MANNING Cup champions St George’s College twice came from behind to defeat rural area kingpins St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) 3-2 in an enthralling Olivier Shield first-leg encounter in Santa Cruz yesterday.

St George’s coach Neville Bell said he was surprised by the size of the STETHS field, but insisted his team was better after they settled in.

“I think we got caught with the size of the field. It’s a lot bigger than we are accustomed to and I think the first 15 minutes it was all STETHS. After we settled, I think we took over the game,” Bell added.

STETHS coach Andrew Edwards was full of praise for his opponents, but argued that his team still has a what it takes to make a comeback in the second leg.

“The George’s team is one who prides themselves on coming from behind. I think in the second half we suffered from fatigue and tiredness,” Edwards told the Observer.

STETHS attacker Denmark Gillings could have scored from just after the kick-off, but his fierce shot was blocked by goalkeeper Windell Reid.

The home team proceeded to dominate early in the first half and it was no surprise when in the 10th minute Gillings bundled home after good work from Deshorn Brown from the right side of the penalty box.

St George’s gradually settled and could have scored in the 16th minute when the dangerous McCauly Tulloch thundered a left-footed drive wide of the upright.

At the other end, STETHS talisman Deshorn Brown let fly with a grounder in the 20th, but his shot was well saved by Reid.

Immediately thereafter, St George’s attacked smoothly through the combination of Tulloch and Jhuvon Francis, but the latter kicked just wide of the target.

Tulloch’s angled shot was then pushed high by STETHS goalkeeper Gregory McKogg in the 35th minute.

Gillings again created problems in the St George’s penalty box when his weak shot was mishandled by the ‘keeper, but the onrushing Jason McClean just failed to get to the rebound.

The Light Blues picked up from where they left off early in the second half but got a scare when Gillings’ free kick from approximately 35 yards rocketed into the crossbar and rebounded into play.

St George’s captain Devon Williams then played a glorious through ball to the speedy Marvin Morgan who calmly hit a firm right-footer into the far corner of McKogg’s net in the 58th to tie the scores at 1-1.

McKogg then courageously left his goal line to deny Morgan his second goal and watched in relief as the wily Kemar Cummings picked up the rebound to shoot just over the bar in the 65th minute.

STETHS scored against the run of play in the 74th when substitute Romero Thompson rose highest to nod home a corner to send the home supporters into a wild frenzy.

McKogg again showed his prowess between the sticks when he dived low to his right to block Cummings’ powerful header from a corner.

STETHS continued to hold St George’s at bay and made several counter-attacks, led by Brown, who had started to show signs of his knee and groin injuries.

The North Street-based STGC found the equaliser in the 85th when Williams again turned provider, expertly setting up the onrushing Oneil Fisher who scored a scorcher from 30 yards.

Thompson could have again scored the go-ahead goal for STETHS, but he nodded wide after Reid failed to claim a corner.

St Georges skipper Williams finally got his name on the scoresheet in the second minute of time added when he tapped in a rebound which had come of the upright, to send the small group of St George’s spectators into hysteria.

“Congratulations to the STETHS team… they are a good team,” said Bell, who had to substitute star striker Tulloch in the second half with a suspected groin injury.

Though gracious in defeat, Edwards tried to rationalise the result.

“They (St George’s) had a longer time to rest and you could see that they were a lot sharper to the ball in the second stanza than we were.

“St George’s passed the ball around nicely on the field and it’s something our players need to learn to do, but it’s a young team and a lot of credit to them (because) they played really really well.

“We’re still in this competition and we just need one more goal in Kingston and we’ll be back in it,” Edwards explained.

Both teams now look towards the second leg at the Harbour View Mini-Stadium on Saturday.