As far as football fairytales go, it could not have been scripted any better for St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) after Omari Laing came off the bench to score the winning goal against Wolmer’s Boys’ in the 89th minute to guide his team into the semifinals of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup for the fifth consecutive time.

Things were hanging in the balance up until that point as a draw between the two teams meant that the semifinal spots would not have been decided until match day three of the quarterfinals.

However, Omari, brother of the late Omar Laing, who was one of the stars of the Manning Cup last season, answered the call of his coach Phillip Williams to score a stunner that broke Wolmer’s heart on Tuesday.

READ: JC, STATHS punch tickets to semi-finals

The soft-spoken Laing said that he won it for his STATHS family.

“I did it for my team and the coaching staff.”

The instructions he received in his introduction to the game was to use his pace to help benefit his teammates.

“(Coach) told me to drive past the defender and square (cross) the ball.

And the goal he scored was just his second at this level.

“When I received the ball, I just pushed it and kicked it. It is my second goal in the Manning Cup and the better one.”

Laing expressed pride in making the semifinals again and admitted their desire to go all the way.

“We are feeling proud going to the semi-finals and we want to win the Manning Cup.”

Coach Williams explained the timing of the introduction of Laing, who sealed their quarterfinal place with a game to spare.

“Namar Nelson was giving the wing-back for Wolmer’s some amount of trouble and Namar is quite slow, so we thought that a little more speed right there would have given us an edge going down that right flank and it paid dividends for us,” the coach explained.

Omar has not featured much this term and Williams explained that it was due to the fact that the younger of the two Laing brothers was still coming to grips with the passing of his brother who was violently killed on his birthday earlier this year.

READ: WATCH: National U-19 footballer, Omar Laing, fatally shot in drive-by

“He has been used sparingly because of the strength of the team, but he came up trumps for us and that’s a very important goal, one that I think he will remember for a long while,” Williams said.

Continuing he said: “Omari is still recovering from the loss of his brother, and I think the entire STATHS family is also recovering from that. We have to assess his condition and his state of mind, and I think most of the time that is the reason he hasn’t been used more.”

“Of course, Omar would have been a very important piece of this puzzle that we have been putting together. Emotionally I think he is a little bit under pressure where that is concerned. We just have to gather around him and rally around him and support,” Williams remarked.

STATHS will face Jamaica College (JC) in their final group game at the Stadium East Field starting at 3:00 pm Friday.

“These youngsters are hungry for more. They want to live up to the expectations of the guys that have gone before them. Going into the JC game…I’m certain that my boys will want to put their best foot forward. It doesn’t matter if we have already qualified for the semifinals playing against JC, a quality team is one that we would like to match mettle against to see where our programme is,” the coach said.