No fuss as Clarendon College, Manchester book second-round spots
Defending champions Clarendon College and Manchester High cruised into the second round of the Inter-secondary Schools Association/Wata daCosta Cup football competition after wins over minnows Thompson Town and Mount St Joseph Catholic in their respective zones on Tuesday.
Both schools extended their perfect win records in the process as Clarendon College won 5-0 to run their record to six-straight wins to top Zone H, while Manchester High won 3-0 to take their record to eight-straight games in Zone F.
The powerhouse duo took the number of teams that have qualified for the second round to 13, joining Cornwall College and Irwin High from Zone A; Rusea’s High and Frome Technical from Zone B; Cedric Titus High from Zone C; St Elizabeth Technical from Zone F; Dinthill Technical from Zone J; Morant Bay High and Paul Bogle High from Zone K; Garvey Maceo High from Zone M; and Happy Grove High from Zone N.
At least four more teams could secure their second-round spots today when the competition continues with 12 games.
Ocho Rios High and Brown’s Town can join Cedric Titus from Zone C if they can score wins over William Knibb Memorial and Cedric Titus, respectively; BB Coke and Munro College would advance from Zone E with wins over Lacovia High and qualifiers St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS); Tacky High gets a second chance to qualify from Zone I when they take on Horace Clarke in a four-team race for two spots.
Keheim Dixon scored a hat-trick on Tuesday to lead Clarendon College, who are yet to concede a goal in their six games played, in the game that continued after it was rained out earlier.
Clarendon College’s 18 points from six games means they cannot finish lower than second in the zone.
Manchester High’s win took them to 24 points and confirmed their place in the second round as Belair High solidified their second place with a 6-0 win over May Day High, with Ajwani Wauchope and Christian Henry both scoring doubles.
DeCarteret College are still in contention with their 5-3 win over Cross Keys High, led by a double from Raheem Russell.
Petersfield High slowed up Black River High’s run to the second round in Zone D, beating them 3-2 and avenged their first-round loss.
The result left three teams, Manning’s School, Black River, and Petersfield High, on 13 points, but while Petersfield High have completed their fixtures, Manning’s School has two games to play and Black River one.
Xavier James, Davalio Gillard, and Deonjay Brown all scored doubles to lead Rusea’s High to a big 8-0 beating of Merlene Ottey High in their return-round Zone B game in Lucea as they returned to the top with 19 points.
It took Rusea’s just over 33 minutes to break down Merlene Ottey, but once they start scoring it was one-way traffic.
Tuesday’s confirmed results
Lennon High vs Edwin Allen — waterlogged field
Clarendon College 5, Thompson Town 0
Rusea’s High 8, Merlene Ottey High 0
Cambridge High 0, Green Island High 5
Black River High 2, Petersfield High 3
Belair High 6, May Day High 0
Mt St Joseph Catholic 0, Manchester High 3
Cross Keys High 3, deCarteret College 5
Old Harbour High 2, Denbigh High 2
Tacius Golding High 0, Vere Tech 3
Wednesday’s games
St James High vs Maldon High — Jarrett Park 2:00 pm
Spot Valley High vs Cornwall College — Spot Valley 2:00 pm
Green Pond High vs Irwin High — Green Pond 2:00 pm
Ocho Rios High vs William Knibb Memorial — Drax Hall 2:00 pm
Browns Town High vs Cedric Titus High — Addison Park 2:00 pm
Mannings School vs Knockalva Tech — Mannings 3:00 pm
BB Coke High vs Lacovia High — BB Coke 3:00 pm
Munro College vs STETHS — Munro 3:00 pm
Wycliffe Martin High vs St Mary High — Wycliffe Martin 2:00 pm
Horace Clarke High vs Tacky High — Horace Clarke 2:00 pm
Ewarton High vs McGrath High — Ewarton Sports Complex 2:00 pm
Charlemont High vs Enid Bennett High — Charlemont 2:00 pm