Charlie Smith's Kimarley Grange is closely marked by Excelsior's Horace Howell as he races towards goal during their Pepsi/Sports Plus Manning Cup game at Ferdie Neita Park yesterday. Excelsior won 2-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer WOLMER'S HEAD the list of qualifiers for Saturday's Pepsi/Sports Plus Manning Cup semi-finals when they carved out an easy 4-0 win against a spirited Dunoon Technical team at Emmett Park yesterday.
In the day's other games, defending champions Bridgeport defeated Kingston College 5-4 at Campion, Norman Manley beat last year's beaten finalists Spanish Town 3-1 at Tony Spaulding Complex, while at Ferdie Neita Park, "giant-killing" Excelsior edged preseason favourites Charlie Smith 2-1.
Saturday's semi-finals at Tony Spaulding Complex will see Wolmer's face-off with Bridgeport in the first game of the day's doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. Excelsior will tackle high-riding Norman Manley two hours later.
AT FERDIE NEITA PARK, former champions Charlie Smith fizzled out of the competition, losing 2-1 to Excelsior.
Excelsior literally used their head to overcome Charlie putting effort where the latter failed to put thought. The youthful Excelsior side played with two wingbacks unlike Charlie who had none and that proved beneficial to their victory.
Horace Howell got the team off to a good start with a header in the 34th minute while Narado Brown sealed the issue with a similar feat in the 53rd minute.
Marksman Marcelino Blackburn scored Charlie's lone goal in the 49th minute.
Though disappointed, Charlie Smith's coach Jerome Waite was full of praise for his charges and for his opponents too.
"The players did well. The support wasn't there from the start in terms of having a manager but they made it this far and I'm proud of them. The second round is the true test and Excelsior looked like a class team out there on the field. They deserved to win," he said.
Winning coach Leebert Halliman still cannot believe his young team has reached the semi-final round and maintains that "anything after this is a bonus".
"It's a long season and the players are young and I'm not sure if they can go any further but they have done very well up to this stage. Anything from here is a bonus. We're very tired but for the next game we're going to give it our all," Halliman said.
AT EMMET PARK, Luton Shelton (second, 59th & 65) scored his first hat-trick of the season and the man who substituted for him, Fenton Graham (88th), netted Wolmer's fourth goal.
Coach Michael Francis said he was happy with his team's performance despite not scoring half the chances given to them.
"I have been telling people from pre-season that the team to win the Manning will be coming from the Wolmer's Group (A). A lot of people who have been talking about the Charlie Smith have never seen Wolmer's," Francis said.
AT CAMPION, defending Manning Cup champions Bridgeport had a major scare and were forced to pull out all their stocks to beat Kingston College 5-4 in a thrilling encounter.
Dean Thompson (52nd, 69th), Kemar Grant (34th, 81st minutes) and Omar Campbell (seventh) got the goals for the winners while Richard West (81st, 83rd), Lorenzo Salmon (58th) and Charles King (37th) struck for the Purples.
Bridgeport Coach Anthony Patrick said: "It should have been a wider margin of victory but nevertheless, we are in the semi-finals".
