The men have separated themselves from the boys as the round of 16 in the ISSA Wata Manning Cup has been decided with some intriguing match-ups following Saturday’s set of games.

Defending champion Kingston College (KC) dropped their first points of the season when they were held to a 0-0 draw playing away at Tivoli Gardens High School. The tie saw the ‘Purples’ finish top of Zone B with 28 points, courtesy of nine wins and a draw, while Tivoli Gardens finished in second spot with 21 points from their 10 games.

Charlie Smith sealed third spot on 18 points with a 2-1 win over Haile Selassie High which ended in fourth spot on 14 points and missed out on a spot in the second round.

In other games on Saturday, St George’s College edged Hydel High 4-3 and finished second in Zone A with 21 points. Hydel High, which were suffering their fourth defeat of the season, ended in fourth spot with 16 points and hung on as the best fourth-placed team and advanced to the round of 16.

Excelsior High topped Zone A with 24 points after battling to a 2-2 draw with St Jago High which slipped a spot to third on 20 points but also safely through to the second round.

In Zone D, St Catherine wrapped up top spot, clipping Eltham High 1-0, and maintained their perfect record of 10 wins from 10 games to be on 30 points. Eltham remained in second spot on 24 points and, along with third-placed Campion College on 16 points, advanced to the second round of 16.

The final 16 teams have been placed in four groups, of which the top two teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
Group 1 consists of Zone A winner Excelsior High; Zone B second place Tivoli Gardens High; Zone C second place St Andrew Technical High and Zone E third place Wolmer’s Boys.

Zone B winner KC are in Group 2 with Zone E second-placed Calabar, along with Zone D third-placed Campion and the best fourth-placed team Hydel.

Last season’s beaten finalist St Catherine High, winners of Zone D, are in Group 3 and will face Zone A second-placed St George’s, Zone B third-placed team Charlie Smith, along with Zone C third-placed Vauxhall High.

Group 4 will have the 2023 champions Mona High, the winner of Zone E; Zone C winner Jamaica College, Zone D second placed Eltham High and Zone A third-placed St Jago in what might be the hardest of the groups.

The round kicks off with some enticing encounters starting Tuesday, October 21.