KINGSTON, Jamaica – Kingston College answered the critics, which were many, after they drew 0-0 with Jose Marti High in the first game of their round of 16 tie in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup with a thumping 9-0 win in the return leg to advance to the quarterfinal round last weekend.

The reigning champions came in for harsh criticism when they were held scoreless for the first time this season at the Royal Lake Field but on the more expansive Stadium East pitch, they ran roughshod over a hapless Jose Marti to put the result beyond doubt from very early.

“After the nil-all draw a lot of things were said, people started doubting us (so) we went to the training pitch,” said coach Raymond Watson.

“We have some concepts and some principles that we tried to adapt in our team preparation and also when we played,” he explained.

“We weren’t executing in the last game, so we said, irrespective of what is going to happen we know Kingston College is going to win the game, but let’s get some goals and there was no doubt in my mind that the score would have been four or five or six,” Watson added.

He also revealed that the main aim was to win the game by the half-hour mark.

“The plan was to win the game in 30 minutes. That was definitely the team plan. The preparation for everything was all about 30 minutes and I thought we did well because in 30 minutes we had the game under control.”

Dujuan ‘Whisper’ Richards also came under the spotlight after failing to find the target in game one, but his response was “loud” as he scored five and assisted two of the goals in the second-game rout.

The champions will face their neighbours St George’s College for the third time this season when they begin the quarterfinal round at the Stadium East Field at 2:00pm today.

The two teams have split the results in the first round, with STGC winning the first game and KC winning the second.

Both teams won the “away fixture” with the STGC 4-2 win coming at Stadium East, so the Neville Bell- coached boys will approach the game with some amount of confidence, despite losing the return leg 0-3 at Winchester Park.

Watson knows that this third meeting will be impacted significantly by what happens in the minds of the players of both teams.

“It’s just another mental preparation. Physically, there is nothing we can do, tactically we are where we are, so it’s just another mental preparation.

“It’s to just get these boys up for the challenge again, knowing that we are up against St George’s College, who will never give us their three points easily. So, we have to recondition our minds, double up our efforts and come again,” he explained.

The quarterfinal group in which KC find themselves has been described as the “group of death” but Watson is not perturbed at the prospects of having to face the rampant Mona High team as well as the motivated Charlie Smith High, after another “Battle of the North Street Giants” today.

“If you want to win, if you want to be the best, you have to play the best. Somewhere along the line you have to play the best, so it’s no big deal to me.

“Every team coming into this round is a tough team. There is no easy team out there, so if you want to be the best you have to beat the best,” he reasoned.

After KC and STGC square off at 2:00 pm, Mona High and Charlie Smith High will battle in the feature game at Stadium East starting at 4:15 pm.