After having eleven goals plundered against them in their first two games in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup season, fans of Meadowbrook High School would have feared the worst when their school came up against champions Kingston College (KC) last week.

But after 90 minutes of football, Meadowbrook, despite losing 1-3 to KC, were in a more buoyant mood than the victors themselves.

KC led 3-0 at half time, but the Meadowbrook Avenue school was able to hold them scoreless in the second half while getting one of their own, the first of the season, signaling a turning point in their campaign.

Their head coach, Wayne Campbell, blamed inexperience for the concession of the first half goals.

“There were a lot of unforced errors, some silly mistakes, but that’s from a lack of experience. It’s the first season for everyone on the team, for some of them on the team it was their very first game. It was pretty clear that we didn’t have everything we needed to battle a team like Kingston College,” he said.

A proper first half assessment and increased commitment helped Meadowbrook to have a much improved second half which could well provide a springboard to a successful season for the inexperienced group.

“In the second half we put all the misery of the first behind us. We looked at the errors that we made and the things that we were doing right, and we asked the boys to recommit themselves and the result showed,” Campbell said.

“We haven’t played in the Manning Cup since 2019 so there is a dearth of talent and experience in the school,” he explained.

Campbell explained that they are the beginning of a long-term project that will see a revitalising of football at the school.

“Being in the competition this year is the start. We have a programme that will take us way beyond where we are now. It is slow and it has to be done in stages. I am very heartened by the second half…we scored a goal which is good.

“It wasn’t easy for them because it was deflating giving up 11 goals in two games but in the second half, we showed that the gap is a bit far, but not as far as we thought from some other schools,” he concluded.

Meadowbrook will next play Waterford High who are second in the zone, at the Constant Spring Sports Complex on Saturday starting at 3:30pm.