Manley drops perfect six

Norman Manley High School continued their imperious march through Zone C of the ISSA Manning Cup competition, cruising to a commanding 6-0 win over Donald Quarrie yesterday at Maxfield Park.

The victory was a classy display of teamwork, with Norman Manley boasting six different goalscorers.

The goals came from Dujoni Saunches (ninth minute), Demarco Bryan (17th), Ernando Henry (29th), Tequan Underhill (60th), Davine Dodd (78th), and Javonie Trusty (90+2).

Norman Manley’s head coach, Shane Gage, was delighted with the result and praised his players for their performance.

However, he believes there is still room for improvement and said the team performed well in patches rather than delivering a consistently strong display.

“As it relates to the execution of the plan today, I’ll say we’re about 70 per cent,” Gage admitted in his post-match interview.

“We are playing in good patches for the most part of the game, but I still see areas where we need to work hard to be consistent.”

From the first whistle, it was clear that Norman Manley were the better team, and their early pressure paid off when Saunches opened the scoring.

They continued to press their advantage and doubled the lead through Bryan in the 17th minute before Henry made it 3-0 12 minutes later.

Norman Manley carried a three-goal advantage into the half-time break, but Underhill quickly made it four after the restart.

Dodd then drilled home an effort from outside the area for the fifth goal before Donald Quarrie were forced into a substitution after goalkeeper Keefer James injured his wrist while making a save.

Trusty rounded off the scoring in time added with a lofted effort over substitute goalkeeper Jaden Anderson, who was caught off his line.

The victory followed two earlier wins in the zone and extended Norman Manley’s perfect start to the competition.

They have now scored 18 goals in three games while conceding just once and are firm favourites to advance to the second round.

Gage said the team’s impressive start was no accident but the result of years of work to develop a competitive programme.

“To be honest, I think we put in some work as it relates to the attacking aspect of it, and we see it is paying off right now,” he explained.

“It’s about assessing from last year. We saw what errors we would have made, and we just decided that we were going to zoom in and correct the errors,” he continued.

Also in Zone C action, Edith Dalton-James picked up their second win in three games with a 6-0 drubbing of Pembroke Hall.

In Zone B, Hillel Academy secured their first win of the season, edging Penwood High 2-1 in a close encounter.

Bridgeport recorded a convincing 4-1 win over Jonathan Grant in Zone A.

The next round of first-round games is scheduled for Friday.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

Yesterday’s Results

Ascot 3-2 Waterford

Holy Trinity 2-2 Greater Portmore

Jonathan Grant 1-4 Bridgeport

Innswood 3-0 St Mary

Hillel 2-1 Penwood

Papine 1-2 Jose Marti

Ardenne 1-2 Denham Town

Edith Dalton-James 6-0 Pembroke Hall

Norman Manley 6-0 Donald Quarrie