Ocho Rios clip Old Harbour 1-0 to advance in Ben Francis KO

Ocho Rios High advanced to the ISSA Ben Francis KO with a 1-0 win over Old Harbour High at Drax Hall Sports Complex yesterday.

With round one completed, the result means Ocho Rios will advance to the quarterfinals to join Garvey Maceo High, Manning’s School, and Manchester High on Tuesday, December 16.

Maggotty High’s recent withdrawal resulted in both Garvey Maceo and Manning’s getting a bye and will wait for the results of the end of the daCosta Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.

In an intense encounter, the winning goal came from Ocho Rios’s leading goalscorer Kaniel Brown who hammered home a free kick in added time (90 plus minutes) to break the deadlock and seal the win.

Veron Peterkin, coach of Ocho Rios, had high praise for his team.

“I think this is the best game the team played in terms of controlling the match. This was like a transition game. If you win, the momentum will come back, if you lose then that’s it,” said Peterkin.

“We were a bit down from the daCosta Cup result, to be honest, because we were playing good football right through,” added Peterkin.

Brown said the free kick was crucial for the team to push forward.

“It was a joy to nail that free kick because we really needed the win to advance to the next round,” Brown said, noting it was a rough game.

“We had to put our minds in it today because after our plan for the daCosta Cup did not work out, we set our sights on the Ben Francis Cup.”

Lack of concentration

Meanwhile, Dwight Whyte, coach of Old Harbour, said a lack of concentration cost them the game.

“I think some silly mistakes caused us the game today. We got numerous chances, the game should have been put away early but that has been our story throughout the season,” said Whyte.

“I have to say hats off to the boys because of the shift system, I can’t get a full squad. It is an achievement but we wanted more,” added White.

Early in the match Ocho Rios got a grand chance to go ahead from the penalty spot but Ryan Francis’ spot kick was saved by Old Harbour’s goalkeeper Cyril Robinson.

Just as it looked like the game would be determined by penalties, Old Harbour’s Joshua Reynolds made a bad tackle on Brown which resulted in a free kick. Brown would then curve the ball from outside the 18-yard box into the net to secure the victory.