A new champion will be crowned in this year’s ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup, as St George’s College denied defending champions Jamaica College a spot in the semi-final for the first time since 2012, after they played out a 1-1 stalemate in their decisive Group two quarterfinal encounter at Ashenheim Stadium on Saturday.

St George’s College entered the contest needing only a point and did enough to ensure they got in when Brian Burkett converted a 45+3-minute penalty. Though Jamaica College pulled on back through substitute Jayd Johnson (59^th), stout defending, coupled with some excellent glove work by D’Jone Davis, in goal for St George’s College, broke the hearts of their Old Hope Road-based counterparts.  

With the point, St George’s College finished second on five points, two behind group winners Hydel High, who were 3-1 winners over Tivoli High in their fixture at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.

Both St George’s College and Hydel will next face Mona High and Kingston College respectively in the semi-final, with all four teams also set to represent the urban area in the all-island Champions Cup knockout tournament.

Meanwhile, Jamaica College, who ended third on three points, it is on to the consolation Walker Cup knockout tournament, along with the pointless Tivoli, who are defending champions.

Marcel Gayle, assistant coach of many-time champions St George’s College was delighted by the outcome, which he credited to the work done by goalkeeper Davis, in particular.

“I must say credit to Jamaica College, they are a very quality team, fought hard, and it is something that we were prepared for. It was a case of defence versus attack and we defended stoutly, credit must be given to D’Jone in goal, he was fantastic and I think he made the difference for us today,” Gayle said in a post-game interview.

With 53 titles between them, the clash between Jamaica College and Jamaica College was always expected to be a humdinger affair and it didn’t disappoint.

The games started at a good tempo with both teams going at each other in end-to-end action. Jamaica College gradually gained the ascendancy, as they showed more enterprise in attack which resulted in numerous squandered chances.

They should have opened the scoring in the 11^th minute when Jabarie Howell was left unmarked deep inside the 18-yard box, but his shot kept out by Davis.

A minute later Jamoy Dennis produced a tidy run down the right channel and played a pass inside to Amarlie King, who couldn’t sort his feet out in time to get a shot on target.

Jamaica College again went close in the 24^th when Malachi Sterling combined with King on a counterattack, but the latter again muffed his effort.

The “Dark Blues” of Old Hope Road, thought they had the go-ahead goal on the half-hour mark, but the goal was flagged offside.

As St George’s College struggled to break free, Jamaica College was again denied by Davis, who left his line well to block Tahir Lawrence’s stinging shot from point blank range, in the 35^th minute.

Just when it seemed like the teams would go into the break goalless, the “Light Blues” of North Street found the lead against the run of play when Burkett converted from the penalty spot, after Zabir Taylor was felled inside the area by Javaun Mills.

Having paid for their profligacy, Jamaica College now requiring two goals to progress, again came out pressing on the resumption and pulled level 14 minutes in. This, as Johnson got in behind defenders and applied a tidy finish beyond Davis from an angle.

The Davion Ferguson-coached Jamaica College continued to create chances in their push for the winner. The best of those came in the latter stages when Johnson’s freekick was blocked by Davis and three players converged on the rebound but none could convert in time added.

That basically summed up Jamaica College’s Day, and Ferguson was left bitterly disappointed.

“We came out here today with a plan, we created enough chances to win the game and we just didn’t put them away. We’ve had some issues up to and it showed here today. St George’s came here with a resilient spirit, and they deserve to go through, so congratulations to them,” he said.

Saturday’s results

St George’s College 1, Jamaica College 1

Hydel High 3, Tivoli High 1

Semi-Final Matchups

Mona High vs St George's College

Hydel High vs Kingston College

Jamaica College remains on course to defend their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup title, as they joined Mona High in the quarterfinal round following victories in their respective second-leg Round of 16 fixtures at Ashenheim Stadium on Wednesday.

The Old Hope Road-based boys, who held a 3-0 lead over Eltham High at the end of the first leg, again made light work of the opponents in a 3-1 scoreline for a 6-1 aggregate win.

Jamaica College got their goals from Amarlie King (36^th), Jayd Johnson (37^th) and Jabarie Howell (61^st), while Jevaughn Grant (54^th) got Eltham’s consolation.

Earlier in the curtain-raiser of the double-header, Mona High hammered Jonathan Grant 6-1 on the day for a 10-1 aggregate scoreline, as they too enjoy good form heading into the quarterfinal.

In the feature contest, Jamaica College were always favoured to make good on their first leg advantage, and they could have opened the scoring in the fifth minute had Johnson got a better touch on Howell’s weighted cross into the area.

They did however make amends six minutes past the half-hour mark in a delightful combination play. This, as Dylan John’s weighted cross was played down by Howell for King to fire home his seventh goal of the season from deep inside the 18-yard box.

Before Eltham could catch their collective breaths, they found themselves two-goals down when Johnson got on the end of, and finished off a rebound after Jamoy Dennis’s initial effort from a distance was kept out by goalkeeper Joshua Aitcheson.

With the score unchanged at the break, the “Dark Blues” came out slow on the resumption and that allowed Grant pulled one back for Eltham as Raul Renton in goal for Jamaica College was hesitant in coming to collect the ball.

But the St Catherine-based team’s joy was short-lived as Howell’s well-struck right-footer from a distance burst through the grasp of Aitcheson and restored Jamaica College’s two-goal cushion which lasted to the final whistle.

Winning coach Davion Ferguson expressed pleasure with his team’s effort despite conceding a goal.

“I think we are somewhat disappointed in conceding that goal, we set ourselves a record and so we never wanted to give up that goal. Nevertheless, I think they played well, credit must be given to Eltham I think came here with a very good game plan, but our boys were patient and they eventually found ways to score goals so credit to them,” Ferguson said in his post-game interview.

Eltham’s assistant coach Glenville Holmes believes his youthful bunch gave as much as was expected.

“The truth is Eltham has nothing to be ashamed of. We played the defending champions which was always going to be a tough fixture, but I think the guys did their best and I am super proud of them. They are a very young bunch, they are under 15 years old, and I think in time, they will represent Eltham very well,” Holmes reasoned.

Wednesday's results

Mona 6, Jonathan Grant 1 (10-1 aggregate)

Kingston College 4, Campion College 1 (7-3 aggregate)

Jamaica College 3, Eltham 1 (6-1 aggregate)

St George’s College 3, St Jago 0 (5-0 aggregate)

St Catherine 3, Wolmer’s Boys 1 (4-1 aggregate)

Haile Selassie 1, Tivoli High 1 (1-1 aggregate)

Hydel 3, Excelsior 1 (3-1 aggregate)

STATHS 7, Kingston Technical 0 (11-0 aggregate)