By Raymond Graham, Freelance WriterPACED BY a hat-trick from Horace Sharpe, St. Jago High gave a clinical performance at the Prison Oval yesterday to destroy Kingston Technical 6-0 and grab the final spot in the quarter-final round of the Manning Cup.
Sharpe struck in the 28th, 44th and 86th minutes to give St. Jago 21 points at the end of the first round and second behind Charlie Smith, the group winners.
In the second game of the Prison Oval doubleheader, Jamaica College handed Spanish Town Comprehensive High their first defeat of the season, a 2-1 come-from-behind effort to end as Group winner. Both teams had already secured places in the quarter-final round of the Walker Cup.
Entering the game in a must-win situation and one point behind Kingston Technical, St. Jago were all over their opponents early as Sharpe opened the score in the 28th minute when he netted from a Larry Graham corner.
On the stroke of halftime, St. Jago extended the lead when Graham sent a through ball to Sharpe at the edge of the 18-yard box and he dribbled past two opponents before kicking powerfully to the right of the goalkeeper to end the half 2-0 for St. Jago.
Upon the resumption, St. Jago again were dominant as Sharpe took the opportunity to complete his hat-trick in the 84th minute when Fabian Swaby was brought down inside the penalty area. From the resulting kick, Sharpe made no mistake to score his third goal of the match.
St. Jago's other goals came from Fidel Anderson (49th minute), Ishmael Williamson (78th minute) and Jermaine Williamson (86th minute).
Winning coach Danny Hawthorne, in his first season as coach at St. Jago High, was elated with his team's success.
"We are very happy to advance to the second round of the competition and although we had to replay the game after leading 3-1 in the previous game we were not bothered by this as we saw our opponents and we realised their weaknesses in that game and we exploited those weaknesses," Hawthorne said.
"The guys were determined as they thought they had a raw deal in that match and they worked extremely hard over the weekend," he said.
Losing coach Ossie Campbell was a dejected man. "We came here for one point and we ended up losing the game outright and I am very disappointed and I have nothing more to say," said Campbell.
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
St. Jago 6 Kingston Technical 0, Bridgeport 6 St. Catherine 1, Ascot 0 Holy Trinity 4, Cumberland 1 Edith Dalton-James 3, Spanish Town 1 Jamaica College 2, Innswood 0 Clan Carthy 2.
