Winston Sill
Kingston College's Richard West(left) is about to boot the ball upfield while a St George's opponent applies pressure during yesterday's Manning Cup encounter at Emmett Park. Kingston College won 2-1.
Anthony Foster, Freelance Writer
KINGSTON COLLEGE yesterday qualified for the second stage of the 2002 Pepsi/Sports Plus schoolboy football competition with a hard-fought, come-from-behind 2-1 victory over hosts and neighbours St. George's College at Emmett..
"My second-round spot was cemented from about two weeks ago," a happy KC coach Stratton Palmer explained. "We were just going through the formalities and knowing with only Cumberland to play next, I don't see any good team losing to them," he said.
The Purples, trailed 1-0 at the half after Mitchly Waul (43rd-minute penalty) gave St. George's College the lead. However, Charles King (74th) and substitute Leroux Lothian (85th) made sure KC not only qualified for the second round of the Manning Cup, but also the Walker Cup quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Excelsior, who defeated Holy Trinity 4-1, and idle Dunoon joined KC as second-round qualifiers.
Palmer said his team must be credited for its fighting spirit, especially in the second half.
"In the second half they started to play what they learned, the system was in operation for that half. They began to move the ball around and play into the open lanes, which we asked them to do," he said.
"Once the challenge was becoming hard in the second half, and we were down 1-0, we didn't want to lose so we put it all together and came out and displayed what we can do."
St. George's College's coach, Andre Bell, blamed his loss on a change he was forced to make early in the game.
"However, that particular change didn't hurt us defensively, I think it hurt us in midfield because that particular player patrols the defence and midfield," he said.
Despite having one game to play, and with a slim outside chance, Bell, in his first year at St. George's says, mathematically his team is out of the 2002 competition.
After a very competitive first half, St. George's College had to wait for a controversial penalty to open their account. The penalty came when KC defenders thought an opposition forward was off-side. A whistle went off behind the goal and Shamaro Foster picked up the ball. Penalty to St. George's.
On resumption, KC took the attack to their opposition with national Under-20 player Richard West and Nicholas Lynch tormenting the St. George's defenders.
The equaliser came when West, playing like a national representative, beat two defenders and turned on a third before passing to King who made no mistake from close range. West was again instrumental in the second goal.
He made a long pass to Ackeeno Murdoch, who took it on the right flank before crossing on to the head Lothian at the far post. The latter climbed high to head home.
DaCosta Cup - Cornwall remain in the race
WESTERN BUREAU:
SEVEN MORE schools confirmed their places in the inter-zone round of the Pepsi/Sports Plus daCosta Cup schoolboys' football competition following yesterday's matches.
Grange Hill, Marcus Garvey, Cedric Titus, St. Elizabeth Technical (STETHS), Bellefield, Porus and Titchfield all secured their places in the next round bringing to 14 the total of teams that have advanced.
Meanwhile, defending champions Cornwall College stayed in the race to qualify from Zone A after playing to a 2-2 draw with William Knibb Memorial at Martha Brae.
Cornwall are on 12 points, one less than Herbert Morrison Technical who they will face in a decisive game tomorrow, while William Knibb are close by on 11 points but with two games to go.
Andrew Walker gave Cornwall the lead after 10 minutes but William Knibb hit back decisively in the second half to take over the lead with goals from Recardo Geddes in the 61st minute and Oniel Graham in the 74th, both from rebounds after the first shot had hit the woodwork.
Cornwall clawed their way back to earn a point thanks to a goal from overlapping defender Lincoln Foreshaw in the 87th minute.
Grange Hill handed former winners Rusea's their second loss of the season with a 2-1 win in their rescheduled Zone B game at the Belle Isle Community Centre in Westmoreland.
The win gave Grange Hill the lead in the zone and effectively eliminated Frome from advancing even though they managed to beat Merlene Ottey High 2-1.
Despite losing 1-0 to Cedric Titus, Marcus Garvey advanced as Ocho Rios surprised Brown's Town 3-0. Marcus Garvey are on 21 points, two more than Cedric Titus and Brown's Town. Cedric Titus would have to lose their game against Ferncourt by more than 10 goals to be denied a place in the next round.
STETHS booked their place from Zone E with a 4-0 win over Black River to avenge their first-round loss while Munro also moved closer to a place after pipping Lacovia 1-0 and need only a point from their game against STETHS tomorrow to advance.
