Christopher Pearson notched up his sixth and seventh goals of the season for Kingston College (KC) as they were pushed to the limit by a plucky Kingston Technical High team in the quarterfinals of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition on Wednesday.

KC took the lead early in the first half when captain Jemone Barclay scored directly from a free kick in the 17

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minute but struggled to find their way to goal after that against a relentless KTHS team before eventually easing to a 3-0 win with two late goals from Pearson.

Pearson got his first in the 86

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minute and his second in the 6

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minute of added time to put some gloss on the score line, in a game that proved to be a challenge for them.

Pearson said after the game that scoring goals in his main responsibility in the team.

“My game is always going to be based off goals to carry the team on the offensive side. We did well, we just didn’t capitalize as much as we could. That’s the only fault that we had in the first half and the second half.”

His teammate Ron-Jay Watson suffered a very bad injury in the first half and had to be taken to hospital and Pearson admitted that this had an effect on the team.

“Totally! It was a very quick injury. I hope that he will be okay, it is a shoulder injury. It affected us, but we adjusted as quickly as possible.”

The win has put KC on the cusp of qualification for the semifinals and the tall midfielder revealed that there was a sense of relief after getting the win and that they are now looking towards playing in the final four.

“Mentally it is a bit of a relief. We are pressured by coach. It’s KC, we have to constantly win. The semifinal speaks for itself. We have to go and show class and I have to continue to score goals to help the team.”

But even as Pearson has been plundering the goals for KC, averaging just over a goal a game, his coach Ludlow Bernard believes that the six-footer has a lot more to offer even still.

“I keep telling him that he can contribute a lot more, both to his game and the team’s game. My challenge is to get him to full efficiency, because he is not there right now and he is the main contributor to the performance of the team right now.”

Bernard has also called on his other players to improve their conversion rate in front of goal.

“We also need others to step up as well. Young Bartley is there…but yes, the efforts of Christopher cannot go unmentioned.”

Pearson will be looking to add to his tally when they come up against Excelsior High Saturday knowing that only a point is required to seal a spot in the final four.

-Dwayne Richards