Excelsior join STATHS, JC, Eltham in semis

Excelsior High School secured the final remaining spot in this year’s semi-finals of the ISSA/WATA Manning Cup competition after recording a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Charlie Smith in Zone A at Winchester Park yesterday.

Kivann Salmon netted the lone goal for Excelsior in the 90th minute.

Charlie Smith ended the match with 10 players after Devonte Wilson received a straight red card for the use of indecent language in the 80th minute.

In the group’s other game, Jamaica College (JC) thrashed Hydel 5-0. JC finished atop the zone with a maximum nine points, three ahead of Excelsior. They were followed by Charlie Smith with three points and Hydel on zero.

The semi-finals picture therefore is Excelsior, St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), JC, and Eltham.

On Tuesday, JC will face STATHS, while Excelsior will face Eltham.

Keon Broderick, head coach of Excelsior, whose team advanced to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in 19 years, was full of praise for his team.

“I am feeling very good because it has been a very difficult season in more than one way,” said Broderick.

“But it is always a good feeling, not only the fact that we reached the semi-finals, but we have broken a 19-year drought of us advancing to this stage of the competition. So I have to feel good and the team feels even better.”

He added that the game was a tough one but he was confident in his team’s ability to get the job done.

“It was a tough game because we knew that Charlie Smith had to win to advance to the semi-finals, and so they were going to come at us and throw numbers upfront as they are a quality team,” Broderick said.

“But, all we did was to set up to ensure that we have security and also trust in our frontline to get the job done, and they did that for us.”

Broderick’s opposite number, Eugene Williams, blamed his team’s defeat on their lack of finishing in front of goal.

“We dominated the game because Excelsior didn’t do anything in this game, because they only had one man in attack throughout the match,” said Williams.

“But we could not finish our chances because we created a lot of chances and I don’t know what happened to my players. We just could not score any of them, hence this result.”

Charlie Smith started brightly and threatened to score on a number of occasions but were let down by poor finishing from their attackers. In fact, Excelsior, who only needed a draw to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, were content to sit back throughout the match. However, Charlie Smith failed to take advantage, and squandered numerous scoring opportunities in the second stanza.

Charlie Smith were then reduced to 10 men, 10 minutes from full time when Wilson was sent off. Excelsior took advantage of this when Salmon latched onto a left-sided cross from Kimarley Scott and fired home from close range to seal the victory for his team.

Robert vBailey

Yesterday’s Results

JC 5-0 Hydel

Excelsior 1-0 Charlie Smith