Reigning champions Clarendon College threw down the gauntlet for others to follow, as they opened their ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup title defence with a 5-0 beating of Clarendon neighbours Lennon High at the National Stadium on Saturday. 

The 10-time champions who are heavily favoured to secure their 11th lien, had the perfect start to that pursuit thanks to a brace from captain Malachi Douglas (6th, 42nd), Christopher Hull (17th), Kahiem Dixon (34th) and Jahmelle Ashley (39th).

Lenny Hyde's Chapelton-based Clarendon College, which won its titles in 1977, 1978, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2022, could have won by a wider margin, but for a lack of composure in the final third, particularly in the second half, coupled with some good glovework by Clayton Lawrence in goal for Lennon. 

Clarendon College signalled intentions immediately from the kick off, as Christopher Hull sidewinded his way into space for a left-footed effort from a distance that sailed over the crossbar. 

At that point it became clear that it wouldn’t be long before something happened and so it didn’t in the sixth minute. 

An attack started by Ateibo Green with a decent run down the right channel ended with a pass inside the 18-yard box which found Dixon, whose shot on goal was handled by defender Richardo Ramsay. Referee Alexi Perry, immediately pointed to the spot and the 12-yard kick was left for Douglas to calmly convert beyond Lawrence.

They should have doubled the lead a minute later when Douglas orchestrated a tidy build up and played a pass across the face of goal for Dixon but the striker sporting the number 13 jersey, overran the ball and muffed the effort.

Still, such was their dominance that Clarendon College was always expected to make up for it and that they did when Hull picked up the ball inside the arc and drove a left-footer past the hapless Lawrence.

It took them a while to add another, as Lennon tried to play their possession game which delayed Clarendon's pursuit to add to their tally. 

But, it was only a matter of time before the shackles would be broken and a setplay straight from the training ground again got the goalscoring going. 

After Deandre Gallimore was felled almost 25-yards out, Hull played the free kick off to Douglas, who sprayed a pass inside for Green and the latter picked out Dixon for an easy tap in at goalmouth.

Dixon came close to adding another a minute later, but his stinging right-footed shot from a distance was parried by Lawrence diving to his weaker left side.

Clarendon continued to apply consistent pressure and went 4-0 up when Dixon played provider for Ashley, who easily converted from close range.

And before Lennon could catch their breaths to regroup, they took another hit three minutes later, as Dixon through excellent hold up play, again played provider, this time for Douglas, who fired past Lawrence to complete his brace.

Lennon almost pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, but Lydel Rodney, in goal for Clarendon College, did well to keep out Ramsay's long range shot to ensure it remained 5-0 at the break.

Clarendon College picked up where they left off on the resumption and almost extended the lead four minutes in, but Devonti Hodges's well-struck right-footer, was equally well saved by Lawrence.

In the 53rd minute, Lawrence spilled Gallimore's shot from a distance and, as such, was forced to pull off a second save and thwart Dixon, who charged in on the rebound.

From there, Lennon became more organised defensively thereby defying everything Clarendon College threw at them, and that, coupled with the effects of the hot and dry conditions was the highlight of the remainder of the contest.

In other results on Saturday, Frome Technical defeated Merlene Ottey 3-1 while Rusea's beat Cambridge 6-1 in Zone B action.

In daCosta Cup action on Saturday, William Knibb stayed perfect with a 5-0 win over Maldon, at home, for their fifth win in as many games.

The first game of the day at William Knibb featured Holland High and Herbert Morrison playing out a 1-1 draw.

In the other Zone A games, at Irwin High, Cornwall College got a 2-0 win over Spot Valley and Irwin beat St. James High 3-0.

William Knibb leads Zone A with 15 points followed by Cornwall College with 10 and Herbert Morrison with nine.  Each team in Zone A has two matches left.

Munro College confirmed their place in the next round as Zone C winners with a 1-0 win over B.B. Coke in the first game of a doubleheader at STETHS.

The second game at STETHS saw Lacovia and Maggotty draw 2-2.

Munro will be joined in the next round by STETHS who got a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph, at Kirkvine, to finish second in the zone with 10 points.

Holmwood Technical beat DeCarteret College 4-0, at Manchester High, to move to fourth in Zone D on seven points, three behind Manchester and Christiana and one behind Bellefield.

Defending champions, Clarendon College, are out of the competition as Lennon High and Edwin Allen advanced from Zone E.

Lennon topped the zone with 11 points and Edwin Allen finished second with 10, beating out Clarendon College on goal difference.

Lennon and Edwin Allen played out a 0-0 draw at Turners Field, meaning a draw would’ve been enough for Clarendon College to advance alongside Lennon.

That didn’t happen, however, as they were beaten 1-0 by Glenmuir, at Glenmuir, ending their hopes of defending their title.

Denbigh beat Claude McKay 5-1 in the other Zone E game on the day.

St. Thomas Technical and Happy Grove advanced from Zone G.

St. Thomas Technical finished as zone winners with eight points and Happy Grove finished second with five points after a 6-2 win over Port Antonio High at Lynch Park.

Happy Grove finished with the same number of points and same goal difference as Paul Bogle High but finished ahead of them on goals scored with six compared to four.

Paul Bogle drew 1-1 with Seaforth, at York Oval, in the other zone game today.

In Zone H, Ocho Rios High and Dinthill Technical both scored 3-0 wins over York Castle High and Charlemont respectively in a doubleheader at Drax Hall.

Dinthill moved to 13 points to strengthen their zone lead, while Ocho Rios and Charlemont are second and third with eight points each.

 Manning Cup

In Group B Manning Cup action, Tivoli beat Dunoon Technical 4-2 and Excelsior and STATHS played out a 3-3 draw in a doubleheader at Stadium East.

At the Spanish Town Prison Oval, St. Jago secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti while Camperdown beat Jonathan Grant 1-0.

Camperdown remain perfect at the top of Group B with 15 points with Tivoli second on 10 and Excelsior third on eight.

In Group C, St. Catherine High beat Papine 3-0 in a 3:00pm game at Jamaica College.

The win moves St. Catherine to second in Group C on seven points behind KC with nine and ahead of Mona with four.

 

 

As group play in zone F of the daCosta Cup comes to an end tomorrow, there are still four teams in contention to progress to the next round.

Garvey Maceo have already booked their place in the next round as zone winners on the back of a perfect four wins from four games so far.

Their opponents tomorrow, Foga Road, currently third in the zone on six points, need a win to maintain any chance of qualifying for the next round as second-place finishers in the zone.

The match between those two is the second of a doubleheader at Foga Road and will kick off at 3:30 pm.

The first half of the doubleheader will give Vere Technical, who are second in the zone on seven points, a chance to ensure qualification with a win over Kemps Hill.

The 3:30 pm game at Garvey Maceo between Central High and Old Harbour features the other two teams with an outside chance of getting to the next round.

With both teams on four points, whoever wins that match has an outside chance of advancing if both Vere Technical and Foga Road lose.

Central High has the best goal difference out of those four teams with +2, while both Vere and Foga Road have a goal difference of +1.

Old Harbour has a goal difference of -1.

On Saturday, zones C, E and G will all be decided as well.

Zone C is the most exciting with five teams having a chance to qualify.

Munro College and B.B. Coke are the top two teams in the zone with nine and seven points respectively.

Those two will meet in the 1:15 pm match at STETHS and whoever prevails will advance as zone winners.

STETHS are currently third in the zone on seven points and would secure qualification to the next round with a win over Mt. St. Joseph at Kirkvine in their 1:15 pm clash.

Lacovia and Maggotty are fourth and fifth with six points each and one could qualify with a win and losses from both B.B Coke and STETHS.

In zone E, Lennon High, Clarendon College, and Edwin Allen all have a chance to advance.

Lennon and defending champions, Clarendon College, are both on 10 points with Lennon ahead on goal difference while Edwin Allen has nine points in third.

Lennon will play Edwin Allen in a 3:30 pm game at Turners Field while Clarendon College will battle Glenmuir in a 3:30 pm game at Glenmuir.

If Lennon wins against Edwin Allen, they will advance to the next round, along with Clarendon College, regardless of the result of Clarendon College vs Glenmuir.

If Edwin Allen beats Lennon, Clarendon would only need a draw with Glenmuir to advance.  

With only five teams in zone G, St. Thomas Technical have already advanced as zone winners with eight points from their four matches.

Paul Bogle are second in the zone with four points from three games and would join them in the next round with a win over Seaforth at York Oval in their 3:30 pm encounter.

Port Antonio are third in the zone, also with four points, and would advance with a win over Happy Grove and a Paul Bogle draw or loss.

Port Antonio and Happy Grove will square off at Lynch Park at 3:30.

Seaforth and Happy Grove both have two points and could have outside chances to advance with wins.

 

 

Camperdown High strengthened their position atop Group B by moving to a perfect nine points from three matches after securing a 2-1 win over STATHS in their 12:00 game at Stadium East.

Elsewhere, Dunoon Technical came back from two goals down to earn their first point of the season against Jonathan Grant in the 12:00 game at the Spanish Town Prison Oval. Jonathan Grant remains second in Group B with seven points from three games.

In other Group B results, Tivoli High scored a 2-0 win over Jose Marti at the Spanish Town Prison Oval and Excelsior beat St. Jago 2-1 at Stadium East.

Meanwhile, in the Dacosta Cup, a clash between the top two teams in Zone A saw William Knibb beat Herbert Morrison 4-1 in their 1:15 encounter at Irwin High thanks to a hat trick from Mark Lewis. William Knibb is now in sole possession of first place in the zone with a perfect nine points from three games, while Herbert Morrison remains second with six.

Cornwall College and St. James High played out a 0-0 draw in the second game of the day at Irwin. Elsewhere in Zone A, a double header at William Knibb saw Irwin beat Holland 3-2 and Spot Valley defeat Maldon 2-0.

On the other hand, in a battle of the bottom two teams in Zone C, Maggotty High secured a 4-0 win over Mount St. Joseph in a 3:30 fixture at STETHS to secure their first points of the season. Maggotty captain Rohan Palmer opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a right-footed shot from just outside the 18-yard box. Their lead was doubled in the 48th minute by Andre Ennevor. Raheem Williams came off the bench to get goal number three in the 82nd minute and the scoring was completed two minutes later by another substitute, Robinho Barrett.

Maggoty High head coach, Xavier Hendricks, was happy with the result.

“The aim today was to get the three points and I’m happy with the three points, just to get some points on the table for the upcoming games that we have.”

In Zone E, Clarendon College were awarded a 3-0 win over Claude McKay as the latter failed to show up to their clash scheduled for 1:15 at Turners Field.

Lennon High secured a 3-2 win over Glenmuir in the 3:30 game at Turner's Field to move to the top of the zone. Lennon and Clarendon College now both have seven points with Lennon ahead on goal difference. Those two are closely followed by Glenmuir and Edwin Allen who are both on six after Edwin Allen got by Denbigh 2-1 at Glenmuir for their second win of the season.

The Zone G double header at York Oval in St. Thomas ended without any goals. In the first game, Paul Bogle was held to a goalless draw by Happy Grove and the game between Seaforth and St. Thomas Technical followed the trend.

 

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