STATHS Head coach Phillip Williams (left) and Kingston College's Vassell Reynolds.
file
Last year’s beaten finalists St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and Kingston College secured an advantage over Kingston Technical and Campion College, as they registered contrasting victories in their respective first leg second round ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup fixtures at Jamaica College on Saturday.
STATHS with a clinical second half display, blanked Kingston Technical 4-0, courtesy of a brace from Richard Livingston (58th and 81st), with Leon Brown (58th) and Alexavier Gooden (88th), getting the others.
Kingston College had things much more difficult and had to come from behind to edge Campion College 3-2 in the feature contest of the double-header.
Tyler Falconer (21st) and Djas Less (25th) gave Campion a handy lead, but Demario Dailey (59th), O’Neil Bryan (83rd) and Robert Seow (90+3), responded for Kingston College.
After playing out a goalless first half in the curtain raiser, STATHS came to life on the resumption and found the go-ahead goal 13 minutes in when Livingston converted from the 12-yard spot, after Brown was felled by goalkeeper Jahiem Orr.
The Bumper Hall-based school continued to press and doubled the lead through Brown, who was on hand to slam home a loose ball from close range, his 14th goal of the season.
With Kingston Technical offering very little resistance, particularly in the latter stages, scoring got easier for STATHS and Livingston helped himself to another, as he skipped a defender and drove home a right-footed effort from just inside the 18-yard box.
Gooden then capped the win with a fine header that gave Orr no chance at a save.
The second contest between Campion College and Kingston College, was expected to be more competitive and lived up to its billing.
Campion took the lead against the run of play when a poor clearance by goalkeeper Malique Williams, went straight to Falconer, who made no mistakes.
Another poor attempt by Williams to gather the ball, allowed Less to tap the ball in at the far post, almost hurting himself in the process when he slammed into the upright.
Though down, Kingston College was not out, and they again found some momentum in the latter stages of the first half, and they maintained it after the break.
The North Street-based team made it count a minute to the hour mark through Dailey, who finished off an Otaivian Halloway pass with aplomb.
With that goal literally knocking the wind from Campion College’s sails, Kingston College went for broke, and Bryan put them back on level terms with a tidy finish from deep inside the 18-yard box.
Seow completed the comeback befitting of their motto “the brave may fall, but never yield,” with an easy tap in at the far post.
Winning coach Vassell Reynolds praised his team for the win.
“It was a tough one, we gave up two soft goals but it’s a part of the game. We asked the guys at half-time to dig in and in the end, fitness spoke, and we got three goals. It is a young and experience team, but we have asked them from the start of the season to always fight in a way that is of a Kingston College spirit, and they did that, so I am very proud of them,” Reynolds said in a post-game interview.
His counterpart Ashton Blankson also lauded his team but felt they were undone by a lack of fitness.
“I thought they got a little tired and the heads dropped, but we fought all the way to the end. We want to go back to playing our game which is the passing game, and we will see what happens (in the second leg) on Wednesday,” Blankson noted.
Saturday’s results
St Catherine 2, Wolmer’s Boys 0
Excelsior 0, Hydel 0
Jamaica College 3, Eltham 0
Mona 3, Jonathan Grant 0
Kingston College 3, Campion College 2
STATHS 4, Kingston Technical 0
St George’s College 2, St Jago 0
Haile Selassie 0, Tivoli High 0
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Dewsbury-Hall: Maresca will surprise people at Chelsea
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca will "surprise a lot of people" when they watch the Blues this season.
The Italian led Leicester City straight back to the Premier League as Championship winners in his only season in charge and succeeds Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
The Foxes topped the second division table with 98 points, with Dewsbury-Hall a key figure in his squad as he netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists last season – his best tally in a single campaign.
Dewsbury-Hall was also named Leicester's Player and Players' Player of the Year.
The midfielder made the switch to West London earlier this month for £30million and is confident that Maresca will have Chelsea challenging for trophies in no time.
"The manager was a big catalyst in wanting me to come," Dewsbury-Hall told BBC Sport.
"I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
"I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four - but more than that.
"He may be unknown for a lot of people, but he is top, top level. He will surprise a lot of people."
Chelsea's pre-season got off to a frustrating start as they were held to a 2-2 draw by League One side Wrexham in Maresca's first game in charge on Wednesday.
Dewsbury-Hall did not play in that match but is training with the squad in the United States and could feature in their next outing against Celtic on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is confident the manager's tactics will come across soon, with the players buying into his style.
"We've only been doing it for two or three weeks, but the combination plays are really quick and tidy," he added.
"That's after two weeks. I remember he said to us at Leicester after six months or a year, there might be teething problems at the start, but it will improve.
"Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level. I felt a bit stupid; I thought I knew a lot about football, but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn't really know before. He has an aura, he can be strict, or gentle and soft - he has both sides.
"I am getting the same feedback here with the lads. They've bought into it here from minute one which is exciting. With a system and philosophy, you need everyone to buy in because, if they do, you can really achieve something."
Ederson slams reports of rift with Man City backup Ortega
Ederson has hit out at reports of a rift between himself and fellow Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
The Brazilian was substituted after suffering a fractured eye socket in City's penultimate game of the Premier League season, a vital 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Ortega replaced him and made a brilliant save to deny Son Heung-min as City maintained their slender lead over Arsenal at the top of the table, sealing an unprecedented fourth straight title by beating West Ham five days later.
Ortega was widely lauded for his role in that triumph, and an article published by The Athletic this week suggested Ederson took issue with that praise.
However, the goalkeeper – who missed the Copa America as a result of his injury – has now moved to shut down those suggestions with a post to his Instagram story.
"I would like to clarify that the note published by The Athletic yesterday, referring to my alleged dissatisfaction with a co-worker, is completely false," he wrote.
"The alleged day reported was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult days of my career, when I suffered a fracture that prevented me from playing in the final stretch of the season and, consequently, from representing my country in the Copa America.
"At the time of the injury, my only thought was to continue in the match, defending City in the fight for the title.
"But the emotion of the match would be greater than the reality and, inevitably, I would not be able to continue as I would have liked due to the damage it caused, completely blocking my field of vision. I remain focused on preparing for the season."
Ederson has been linked with a transfer in recent days, reportedly attracting interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
Slot's Liverpool success will be measured by trophies, says McAllister
Gary McAllister says Arne Slot must be prepared to aim high by targeting trophies if he is to be successful with Liverpool.
The Dutchman is set to begin his first season in charge of the Reds after being appointed as Jurgen Klopp's successor in May.
Liverpool enjoyed a trophy-laden spell under the German, winning their first-ever Premier League title, as well as a Champions League, a Club World Cup, a Super Cup, an FA Cup and two EFL Cups.
However, Slot was no stranger to success while at Feyenoord, leading the team to the Eredivisie title in 2022-23 before lifting the KNVB Cup in April during his final season with the club.
McAllister, who won five trophies in the two years he spent at Liverpool, says Slot's success will be determined by the silverware he collects.
"Liverpool is a club that's synonymous with winning, and when you don't win you fail," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"When there's a new management team, you're given a little bit more time, but the facts are Liverpool's target, I felt, and as a player that played against them for most of his career, the targets that Liverpool set, you go into every tournament looking to win it.
"You try to win every game and that's the expectation of the club and that's what makes it a very special club."
Klopp spent nine years at Liverpool, breaking club records as his team pushed for trophies on a regular basis.
The Reds enjoyed a club-record 68-match unbeaten run at Anfield over nearly four years in the Premier League between April 2017 and January 2021.
Klopp also oversaw three of the four most prolific seasons in Liverpool's history, including the club-record total of 147 goals scored in 2021-22.
Slot has admitted he has "big shoes to fill", but McAllister believes the 45-year-old will be able to live up to the high expectations left behind by Klopp.
"Arne arriving at the club, following Klopp, realising that it's such a difficult job anyway, but to follow somebody who's done particularly well at the club over an eight, nine-year period is going to be tough, and I don't think the new manager is under any illusions," he added.
"What I would say is he's a man that seems to be a very strong character, good personality, and he's just got to come in and be his own man and trust what he does.
"He's done very well in his previous managerial career and coming to Liverpool I feel is a natural progression in the levels of the game that he's worked at.
"So, everybody at the club will be deeply backing him and be right behind him, he'll have amazing support."
Liverpool's first pre-season game under Slot ended in a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End last week before the players flew out to the United States for a three-game tour.
They are also only one of two Premier League clubs yet to conduct any business in the transfer window so far, but McAllister urged fans to be patient with Slot while he gets settled in his new role.
"Whenever there's a change at a club, I think the fans have got to realise that it does take time for a new manager, a new coaching group to come in and get their ideas over to the players," he said.
"There's got to be a modicum of patience, but at Liverpool, expectation levels are very, very high and sometimes, in professional soccer, in elite soccer, patience is something that most managers don't get.
"As much as the fans have got to be aware that everything is new and there are new ideas, Arne and the players will want to get off to a quick start.
"I feel that this pre-season tour is going to help them start the season against Ipswich Town very strongly. I feel the games that they've got here in the US, here in Pittsburgh against Betis, and then we go to play Arsenal and Manchester United, the build-up is pretty good."
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