Former champions Kingston College (KC) sent a strong message to their rivals in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition with a 6-1 thrashing of Hydel in the second round of Group Three at Stadium East on Saturday.

KC was led to victory by a brace from Deshawn Byfield in the 36th and 77th minutes. KC’s other scorers were Kamaul Patterson (eighth), Kvist Paul (20th), Shereef Ricketts (57th), and Zaire Dose (86th). Ronaldo Barrett scored Hydel’s lone goal in the 72nd minute.

In the opening match of the double-header, Jamaica College and Calabar played to a thrilling 3-3 draw.

KC’s Head Coach Vassell Reynolds was not surprised by his team’s dominant performance.

“I think that 6-1 at this level and in this round, I can barely ask for more,” Reynolds said. “Based on our stats coming into the game, we figured we would have a lot of chances because we did a lot of work on our finishing and creating opportunities, so I am not surprised at the scoreline.”

Reynolds says his team is in excellent shape at the moment and they are now peaking at the right time.

“I told people from August that we were prepared to go very far in this competition,” he said. “We are strategically prepared in terms of peaking at the right time. I asked the team to lift themselves to another level, and now is the time they did that and I am pretty satisfied with the performance.”

Hydel’s Head Coach Devon Anderson expressed disappointment, citing his players’ failure to follow instructions.

“We came out here with a plan, but we deviated from it and gave up some soft goals against KC,” he said. “When you’re not contesting the opponents in your own 18-yard box, then you’re bound to come out on the bitter end of the stick. I know we can bounce back in this group, so I just have to get the guys up again and try to go at it for the next two games.”

KC took an early lead when Patterson headed home a corner from Damaine Smith past goalkeeper Daquan Jemison. Paul extended KC’s lead 12 minutes later with a header from another corner as he rose above two Hydel defenders to score. Byfield scored to make it a 3-0 at half-time by capitalising on a loose ball in the box to score from close range. KC continued to dominate in the second half, with Ricketts unleashing a thunderbolt that flew past Jemison to make it 4-0. Barrett briefly reduced the lead for Hydel when he scored from the penalty spot to make it 4-1. However, KC responded with two more goals to secure the victory.