Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Eltham High's captain Tremaine Stewart controls the ball ahead of Jamaica College's Adrian Christian in ISSA\Pepsi\JN Manning Cup Group Three action at the Spanish Oval Prison Oval yesterday. Stewart netted the all-important goal in a 1-0 Eltham victory. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Eltham High saw to it that there was was no revenge for Jamaica College (JC), and just as they did to lift the Walker Cup, handed the Old Hope Road based-school's senior football team a 1-0 defeat in the ISSA/Pepsi/JN Manning Cup Group Three match at Spanish Town Prison Oval yesterday.

This time around it was the brilliance of midfield maestro Tremaine Stewart which set the teams apart. Just 30 seconds into the game the midfielder latched on to a ball bobbling about awkwardly in the middle of the pitch, looked up and then blasted past JC custodian Geovanni Gordon who, to be fair, would probably had to have been about 10 feet tall to take that shot out of the roof of the net.

"We are very pleased to start the round with three points. In this tough situation, the quarter-final of the Manning Cup, it's always best to start out with three points," said a contented Gregory Allen, coach of the Eltham team.

However, Jamaica College would have several opportunities to see themselves level. The best of those fell to Dewayne Williams whose spectacular 59th minute free kick forced Eltham custodian Kelso Cousins to go full stretch to parry away the attempt.

"We came up a bit short. It was one of those freak goals and we never responded well enough to get back. But there's always tomorrow and we will have to work on the positives," assessed JC's coach Alfred Henry.

DRAMATIC DRAW

In the day's other game, a 90th minute header by Dwayne Byfield gave Spanish Town a dramatic last minute 2-2 draw against Charlie Smith.

The odds seemed to be stacked against the team which found themselves a goal down, courtesy of Kenroy Campbell's 14th minute strike.

Gillian Pusey seemingly slammed the door shut when he put the ball wide of Spanish Town custodian Kenroy Wright with a 43rd minute penalty attempt.

However, Ranique Rowe pulled one back for Spanish Town from the spot in the 75th minute, before Byfield's last minute header sent Spanish Town into euphoria.

"It was a very disappointing result for us but, hopefully, we can learn from the situation," said Charlie Smith assistant coach Carrol Butler.

"But it's not over, champions do rise from the dust. We've made it more difficult for ourselves but, hopefully, we can show what we are made of," he added.

Spanish Town coach Anthony Thompson, who also saw his team lose midfielder Akeal Mcarthy in the 80th minute, was very inspired by the come-from-behind effort.

"I'm grateful for the point. I think we played beautiful football and I think we can play anybody. Hopefully, that will take us from here," he said.

Eltham lead the group with three points, followed by Charlie Smith and Spanish Town on a point each. JC are pointless.

The competition continues today with another double-header, this time at Stadium East with Jonathan Grant facing Camperdown at 1:00 p.m., followed by Bridgeport taking on Excelsior in the 3:00 p.m. feature.