Excelsior High clinched the last semifinal spot in the ISSA Wata Manning Cup on Saturday with a last gasp 1-0 win over Charlie Smith High at Winchester Park.

Both teams started the day on three points but Excelsior, with a better goal difference, needed just a draw to advance while Charlie Smith had to win.

It was a stout-hearted performance from Charlie Smith as they matched and at times out-battled Excelsior. But, despite the dominant performance by the Arnett Gardens-based school, there were no clear-cut chances as Excelsior held firm and tried hitting on the counter for most of the second half.

Top scorer Kimarly Scott was isolated up front and he should have scored at the start of the second half, lobbing his effort just wide of an empty goal.

Charlie Smith stepped up the pressure and had Excelsior on the back foot for long periods while searching for that crucial breakthrough.

But, with time running out and Charlie throwing everything including the kitchen sink at their opponents, it was Excelsior’s Kivann Salmon who popped up and scored the winner with the last kick of the game in the 90+6 minute to break the hearts of ‘junglists’.

With the win, Excelsior finished second in Zone A with six point behind group winner Jamaica College, which thumped Hydel High 5-0 and finished perfect with nine points.

Excelsior will now face Eltham High in the semi-final, a repeat of 2006, while JC will meet a STATHS team they defeated in three Manning Cup finals and a Walker Cup final in recent times.

Excelsior’s coach Keon Broderick said he expected a difficult game but the boys stuck to the game plan.

“Adversity builds character and that is something that we preach to them whenever it gets difficult. Football is also a teacher. It teaches your life skills and whenever life gets difficult, it’s for you to get up and keep going and that’s how the game went today,” said Broderick.

“It was very difficult. We knew it was going to be difficult but I mean we have to continue going and continue to work hard and continue to be solid defensively and I mean even though we continued to attack, we ensured that the rest of the defence was intact and they did a good job,” he pointed out.

For the gallant Charlie Smith, they will now drop into the Walker Cup where they will face Tivoli Gardens High. Head coach Eugene Williams was full of praises for his team.

“I’m proud … the struggle that we’ve gone through to reach this far with limited resources,” Williams said.

Charlie Smith lost key midfielder Devonte Wilson to a silly red card for verbally abusing the referee when the game was on a knife edge with 10 minutes remaining and that Williams cited might have cost them a chance to sneak in that crucial goal.

“We dominated the game. Look at that moment. I don’t think the game would end like this… we had Excelsior on the back side. That red card kind of eased the pressure for them to come forward,” said Williams.