- Rudolph BrownJamaica College's Kowri Pickersgill (right) evades a tackle from Marlon Barnes of Dunoon during their match yesterday. Dunoon won 1-0.
Fitzroy Prendergast, Staff Reporter
A NEW Manning Cup champion will be crowned this year as victories by Dunoon, Kingston College and Camperdown yesterday ensured defending champions Tivoli exited the competition.
Dunoon, courtesy of a 30th minute strike from Marlon Barnes, beat a spirited Jamaica College team 1-0 in the second game of a doubleheader at Campion. While Dunoon took care of business uptown, Camperdown cruised past Clan Carthy 3-0 at Kingston College to grab the last semi-final spot as the best second-placed team.
In the curtainraiser at Campion, a double strike from Roderick Brown gave Kingston College a 2-0 win over Wolmer's.
Dunoon got a rare chance to score and then defended stoutly despite a late charge by Jamaica College.
With 15 minutes to go before the half-time break, a cross by Geovanni Anderson from the left found the head of the wily Barnes who headed powerfully away from Jamaica College's goalkeeper Linton Whyte and into the left-hand corner of the goal.
Despite a huge effort by JC to draw level in a game that they needed to win by a handsome margin to advance to the semi-finals, Dunoon's defence, marshalled by Troy Anjorie and Lamar Morgan, stood firm.
Dunoon's coach Carlton "Spanner" Dennis, was thrilled with his team's achievement and his personal milestone.
"To have coached a team to the semi-finals of the Manning Cup in my first season is very pleasing for me," said Dennis. "I am happy with the way we played today although we scored only one goal. We just want to keep on winning because we intend to go all the way."
Earlier, Kingston College and Wolmer's fought tooth and nail for supremacy in a goalless first half but the 'Purples' took charge in the second and romped to what turned out to be a comfortable victory.
Spurred on a motivational talk from coach Stratton Palmer at the break, the North Street team struck the bar in the first minute of the second half when a corner taken by Adrian Lewis from the right was powerfully headed on to the crossbar by substitute Franz Smith.
In the 15th minute of the second half, Kingston College took the lead when a free-kick from the left found the chest of Rohan McKenzie. He played the ball to Lewis at the top of the box, who took a shot which fortunately came across to the area to Brown for him to slice the ball into the back of the net.
As if inspired by the somewhat fortuitous goal, Kingston College added the second only three minutes later and again it was Brown's good finishing that did the trick.
A well-directed pass from the middle by Damion Coleman found Brown to the right of the area and he unleashed a thunderous shot past Wolmer's goalkeeper Andy Smith.
"I am really happy to be in the semi-finals," said Palmer. "The team played well ... we needed the victory to secure our spot and we came out and got the job done," he said.
Camperdown blank Clan Carthy 3-0
CAMPERDOWN qualified for the semis from Group 3 virtue of being the best second-placed team. The win yesterday placed Camperdown second in the group with six points.
The Barrington Gaynor-coached Camperdown team dominated from start to the end at Kingston College, but they had no luck in the first stanza when they were denied many scoring attempts by a strong Clan Carthy defence.
About nine minutes before the break, Kire was one-one-one with Clan Carthy's goalkeeper Marlon Audley but his shot from within the six-yard box was parried by Audley at the right post.
Clan Carthy played a more balanced game in the second half but blew two easy chances within a minute.
Thirteen minutes after the break, forward Orlando Powell failed to slot home a shot almost on the goalline after Camperdown's goalkeeper Simon Bennett fumbled a low ball - which was cleared for a corner by a defender.
The corner kick was headed powerfully by utility player Michael Stone but into the hands of Bennett.
Camperdown then stepped up their game and took the lead four minutes after that (63rd) when Johnson fought off defenders Eric Williams and Adrian Daley within the 18-yard box to shoot into the back of the net.
Three minutes later (66th), Kire made it 2-0 for Camperdown when he slotted home unmarked from close range. Palmer put the icing on the cake, again three minutes later, when he squeezed past two defenders and shot past the advancing Audley from close in to make it 3-0.
RESULTS
Dunoon Technical 1 Jamaica College 0Camperdown 3 Clan Carthy 0Kingston College 2 Wolmer's 0
