HAT-TRICK HERO!
Defending champions Jamaica College have finally showed their pedigree in the shortened Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup season, as they hit rivals St George’s College for six, while Charlie Smith clipped Calabar in Group A action at Stadium East yesterday.
Captain Duncan McKenzie had a hat-trick in Jamaica College’s 6-0 beating of St George’s College, while Andre Gibbs got the all-important strike for Charlie Smith in the curtain-raiser of the double-header.
With the results, both teams revived their quarter-final prospects, as Charlie Smith remained second on nine points from five games, same as leaders Kingston Technical, who have a superior goal difference and have played a game less. They were idle yesterday.
Jamaica College, who were securing their second win of the campaign, moved to third on seven points from four games, overtaking St George’s College, who were relegated to fourth on six points.
Meanwhile, Calabar slipped to fifth on four points, same as sixth and seventh-placed Bridgeport High and Kingston High, who played out a goalless stalemate in their contest at Spanish Town Prison Oval.
Elsewhere in Group C action, Wolmer’s Boys blanked Clan Carthy High 3-0 at Ashenheim Stadium, but remain fourth in the group on three points, from two games. Their 12-0 hammering of St Mary’s College was ruled null and void after the latter’s withdrawal, which means their first game of the season was the loss to group leaders Kingston College on Thursday.
At Stadium East, the feature contest dubbed the “battle of the blues”, was always expected to be one of intrigue, as it has been over the years.
But the “Dark Blues” of Old Hope Road overshadowed their “Light Blues” opponents of North Street, who offered very little competition in the lopsided affair.
McKenzie (10th, 25th and 39th), Marlon Pennicooke (15th), Dwight Merrick (52nd) and Tarick Ximines (63rd), did the damage for Jamaica College.
St George’s College, who lost 3-1 to Kingston Technical on last, had Lamonth Rochester ejected in the 68th minute for striking an opponent out of frustration.
Jamaica College’s rampage started early courtesy of McKenzie from the penalty spot after Tae-Sean Oneil handled the ball inside the danger area while attempting a clearance.
They quickly doubled the score when Pennicooke expertly headed past custodian Donjae Jackson, diving full stretch to meet a weighted cross from Giovanni Mitto.
It became 3-0 when McKenzie accepted a gift from the defenders, who failed to clear their lines cleanly, making no mistake from deep inside the 18-yard box.
And the skipper would add one more to make it 4-0 at the break when he finished off a tidy solo run with a right-footed drive along the ground from the top of the box that gave Jackson no chance at a save. It was also his fourth of the season.
Though being down and out, St George’s College showed some attacking intent on the resumption, but offered very little in the final third to cause any problems for Denzel Smith in goal for Jamaica College.
That allowed Jamaica College to add to their tally when Merrick capitalised on some poor defending with an easy finish past the hapless Jackson.
And Ximines, who has strutted his stuff in the truncated Jamaica Premier League (JPL) season, sealed the six-star performance with a thumping left-footed effort from just over 20 yards out.
Earlier, the curtain-raiser between Charlie Smith and Calabar was a tale of two halves, with the “Junglists” marshalling proceedings in the opening 45 minutes where they broke the deadlock through Andre Gibbs’ fourth-minute strike.
Calabar had an opportunity to pull level from the penalty spot after Omar Walker was felled inside the area in the 12th minute by the advancing Chad Green in goal for Charlie Smith. However, Darren Chinnon hit the 12-yard kick wide of the right upright, even as Green was already heading the wrong way.
Charlie Smith had a few opportunities to extend the lead but we’re undone by faulty shooting.
Calabar were also left ruing their profligacy in the second half, which saw them again coming up empty, even with a man advantage after Charlie Smith lost Michael Miller to a second caution in the 66th minute.
Yesterday’s results
Group A
Charlie Smith 1, Calabar 0
St George’s College 0, Jamaica College 6
Kingston High 0, Bridgeport 0
Group C
Clan Carthy 0 vs Wolmer’s Boys 3
Today’s games
Group B
St Jago vs Jose Marti @ Prison Oval @ 12 noon
Dunoon Technical vs Tivoli Gardens @ Stadium East at 12 noon
STATHS vs Excelsior @ Stadium East at 3:00 pm
Group C
Papine High vs St Catherine High @ Jamaica College at 3:00 pm