KINGSTON, Jamaica – Haile Selassie High put one foot into the quarterfinals of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition when they edged Excelsior High 1-0 in the first leg of their second-round match at Calabar High on Tuesday.

A 43rd minute goal from Jahni Lawrence was enough to seal the win for Haile Selassie, who must now be dreaming of a place in the quarterfinals which give them the opportunity to chase silverware this season.

The Linval Dixon-coached team had to work hard for the win, first overcoming weather conditions and then a late Excelsior onslaught near the end of the match.

Dixon was quite pleased with the way his players handled themselves under trying conditions on Tuesday.,

“It was a gutsy performance. After the rain the team took a little while to settle down, but as they went along and tagged with the Excelsior team we got into the game and started to play it round a little bit.

“We dug deep and carved out a wonderful victory,” he said.

But even as he basked in the first leg win, the former Reggae Boy was cognizant of things that needed to be fixed ahead of the return leg on Friday.

“I think we need to keep more possession of the ball. We turned over the ball a little bit too easily, but we have a couple of days to really get that sorted out and hopefully we can get that better for the next leg,” he noted.

Dixon believes that making it to the quarterfinal round would do wonders for the programme at the school.

“That would be really fantastic because that would be good for the school, a school that is trying to progress in the Manning Cup.”

Dixon was not getting ahead of himself however, and is ready to play the long game to achieve success at Haile Selassie.

“So, it’s a work in progress and we are trying to get them to understand what they have to bring to the table to achieve what they really want. We just have to take it step by step, one day at a time and hopefully we will get it right down the road,” he concluded.

Haile Selassie and Excelsior will meet in the crucial return leg at the Stadium East Field on Friday starting at 3:15pm. The game will be broadcast live on television.