Garvey Maceo High and Cornwall College were crowned ISSA Rural Area boys’ Under-14 and Under-16 champions, respectively, after beating William Knibb Memorial and Glenmuir High at the St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex on Thursday.

Kerick Clarke scored twice for Garvey Maceo, who beat William Knibb 4-2 in the Burger King Under-14 final, while Carlondo Morris scored two goals to lead Cornwall to a 4-1 win over Glenmuir in the Mighty Malt Under-16 final to complete a season in which they were unbeaten, drawing once and conceding four goals.

The Under-16 game was delayed for more than an hour as officials took the teams off the field at half-time due to heavy rain and puddles in some areas of the field.

Garvey Maceo and Cornwall will now meet Jamaica College, the Urban Area double champions, in the all-island play-offs on Wednesday.

It was the second meeting between the teams this season. Garvey Maceo and William Knibb drew 0-0 in the second round, while Cornwall beat Glenmuir 3-0 in the same round.

Garvey Maceo Head Coach Lester Hibbert told the Jamaica Observer he was “overwhelmed and in tears” after the win which saw them lead early but come back from 2-1 down with three late goals.

“This one was special, because these young boys, they have a true fighting spirit,” he said. “They played to the end for the 70 minutes, even when we were down, they took simple instructions. This title is very special to us.”

Garvey Maceo, who came from behind twice in regulation to beat Cornwall on sudden-death penalties in the semi-finals a week earlier, took the lead in the sixth minute through Clarke, but William Knibb responded with two goals from Junior Gray who equalised a minute into time added in the first half and gave them the lead in the 49th minute of the 70-minute game.

Leighton Walker pulled Garvey Maceo level in the 62nd minute, Marshall March gave them the lead 3-2 two minutes later, before Clarke completed his brace in the 70th minute.

After failing to get past the quarter-finals last season, Cornwall’s Coach Tevin Applewaite said the players, five of whom were starters on the school’s Under-19 team that qualified for the Ben Francis Cup final, came into the season with more determination.

“I feel good, I’m so proud of the boys,” he told the Observer. “They said they wanted it this year, and they come out and they gave it their all.”

Applewaite said he was not surprised by the margin of victory and added that despite beating Glenmuir earlier in the season, his instructions going into the game was, “I just asked the boys to relax,” he said. “It’s a new game. Don’t focus on the past. We came out here and we gave it our all and we got the win today.”

Morris, a member of the national Under-15 team and part of the ISSA All-daCosta Cup team, failed to score in the team’s two previous games. He gave Cornwall the lead in the eighth minute when he was played through by Jared Sergeant and beat goalkeeper Lamario Brown.

It rained heavily after around the 25th minute and Morris added a second in the 34th minute when Brown rushed off his line to block the angle but, the ball was held up in a puddle and the striker lobbed it over his head into the unguarded goal.

Morris then assisted the third goal. His cross from the right appeared to be going outside before Mekhi Foster arrived to jump and lob the ball with the outside of his right boot over Brown and into the goal.

After having a call for a penalty overturned by the referee, Cornwall was later awarded a spot kick, and Sergeant, who was pushed over by a Glenmuir defender, stepped up and scored in the 70th minute.

Glenmuir got a goal when Keneil Douglas scrambled the ball across the line in time added at the end of the second half after Cornwall failed to clear a corner.

Results

Under-14

Garvey Maceo 4, William Knibb 2

Under-16

Cornwall 4, Glenmuir 1

Junior football competition committee hairman Orette Wallace (second right) hands over the ISSA Rural Under-16 championship trophy to Cornwall College captain Carlondo Morris after they defeated Glenmuir High 4-1 in the final at STETHS Sports Complex.