ST George’s College (STGC) Assistant Coach Marcel Gayle says his team is remaining grounded despite their comfortable 7-2 win over Jose Marti on Tuesday, which secured their spot in the second round of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup.

The North Street-based boys were dominant throughout the contest that saw striker Brian Burkett find the back of the net four times. Adjani Peart, Matthew Spence, and Tae-Sean Oneil were also on the scoresheet.

The win sees STGC move to 21 points as leaders in Group F, thereby gaining secured automatic qualification to the next round.

While the team is aiming to win this season’s competition, Gayle isn’t thinking that far ahead just yet.

“We take each game as it comes and we prepare for each opponent differently,” he shared. “Our main objective today was to qualify out of the group, and we did that.

“There were some scary moments for us but, luckily, our goalkeeper [Jaedon Thompson] came up trumps.”

Gayle also had high praises for Burkett who scored two goals in either half.

“I can’t find any adjectives to really describe him but he’s an awesome player,” Gayle said. “The sky’s the limit for this kid and we just hope he holds up his head, stays focused, and applies himself every game.”

Jose Marti remain third in the group on 12 points but still have a shot at qualifying for the next round, despite their heavy defeat, and Head Coach Patrick Lewis remains hopeful.

“We want to make it to the second round,” Lewis said. “We’re going back to school to get these guys back in a better mental state for the next game. We’ll sit, have a reasoning, allow them to express themselves, and see where they went wrong and then we can correct them.”

Second-placed Campion College also took a significant step in making it to the second round after a 1-0 win over Ardenne, thanks to a Nicolai Banton penalty in the fourth minute.

The win pushes them to 16 points, four clear of Jose Marti, with three games to go in the group.

Tuesday’s results

STGC 7, Jose Marti 2

Campion 1, Ardenne 0

Cumberland 1, Jamaica College 8

Waterford 3, Pembroke Hall 1

Jonathan Grant 0, Haile Selassie 0

Charlie Smith 5, Penwood 0

Calabar 1, Kingston College 1

Camperdown 1, Hydel 4

Dunoon 1, Eltham 3

Greater Portmore 0, Denham Town 7

Wednesday’s games (Matches scheduled for 3 pm unless stated otherwise.)

Cedar Grove vs Excelsior @ Cedar Grove (1:30 pm)

Tarrant vs STATHS @ Tarrant (2:00 pm)

Wolmer’s vs Ascot @ Mico

St Jago vs Vauxhall @ St Jago

Papine vs Donald Quarrie @ Papine

Norman Manley vs St Catherine @ Maxfield Park

Holy Trinity vs Mona @ Alpha

Clan Carthy vs Bridgeport