FOLOWING the disappointment they suffered last season, head coach of Charlie Smith Eugene Williams says his team has grown after booking their spot in the second round of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup.

Led by a brace from Neyo Drummond the three-time champions beat Tarrant 4-0 on Tuesday. The win sees them move to 18 points as they sit second in Zone B with a game to play. Although they can be overtaken by third-place Jonathan Grant, who have 15 points and a game in hand, Charlie Smith will still advance to the next stage as they would finish as one of the two best third-place teams in the competition.

Williams says his team deserved their achievement, despite not taking the easy route.

“We made it difficult on ourselves because we should have qualified long ago. When we played Jonathan Grant we led 2-0 and allowed them to come back 2-2. Even when we played Waterford, we led 1-0 and dropped points. We put ourselves in that position, but the guys stepped up today. It’s not a pretty victory but we got the most important thing, which is the win,” he said.

Charlie Smith failed to make it out of the group stage last year, and Williams says they will need to find a new gear if they are to be competitive this time around.

“We have to just try to get these youth focused the right way because it’s not easy — especially in this community where we’re at. You can have them in a good position when they’re around you but then they ‘go road’ and go back to the bad habits. So, it depends on them, on how serious they are, and how much they want it — because we can prepare them as best as possible but it comes down to them to execute,” Williams said.

Tuesday’s Results

Charlie Smith 4, Tarrant 0

STATHS 18, Kingston Technical 1

Calabar 4, Vauxhall 1

Haile Selassie 1, Camperdown 2

Wednesday’s Games

Mona High vs Gaynstead at Mona

Waterford vs Jonathan Grant at Waterford

Bridgeport vs Excelsior at Bridgeport