Kingston College embodied the spirit of their time-honoured motto, “The brave may fall but never yield,” as they came from behind to defeat Wolmer’s Boys 3-1 in their Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup Group three encounter at Stadium East on Tuesday.
Despite falling behind early to Christano Myers’ second-minute own goal, the “Purples” roared back with resilience through strikes from Matrim Martin (75th), Shareef Ricketts (77th), and Deshawn Byfield (84th) to make it two wins on the trot in the Round of 16 and clinch a coveted spot in the quarterfinals.
They now sit comfortably atop the group of six points, three ahead of Hydel, who edged St Andrew Technical (STATHS) 1-0 in the other group contest. STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys have one point each heading into Friday’s final round of matches.
Winning coach Vassell Reynolds was pleased with the grit and determination displayed by his team.
“Winning our first two games was always part of the plan. We really wanted to lift our standard of play for this round because we knew it would have been more challenging, so I asked the boys for improvements because this is what is required, and I thought they did that in these two games so far,” Reynolds said in a post-game interview.
“Even though we conceded early today, our performance in the second half shows that we have some grit and we have to be able to hang in there and fight, and in the final analysis, the fitness showed, and I thought we did very well in the last 25 minutes of this encounter,” he added.
Wolmer’s Boys started well and grabbed the early ascendancy when a long ball into the 18-yard box was turned in by Kingston College’s defender, Myers.
For Kingston College, it was a moment that called for grit, and they responded without hesitation.
Instead of letting the early goal unsettle them, the North Street boys went on the probe for the equaliser and had a few half chances from which they could have capitalised, but a lack of composure proved their undoing.
The second half was more of the same, as Kingston College, fuelled by the words “never yield,” applied consistent pressure with renewed energy, and they inevitably pulled level in the 75th when Martin tapped home on the second attempt after Wolmer’s goalkeeper Yuri Dryden’s initial save.
That goal shifted the momentum firmly in Kingston College’s favour, and soon they found the lead when Ricketts converted from the penalty spot to send their supporters into a frenzy.
With the writing on the wall for Wolmer’s, who had players forced off with injuries, Kingston College’s third goal was the basically statement, as Byfield fired in his 20th goal of the season after Dryden failed to gather the ball cleanly from Ricketts’ initial attempt.
Despite the loss, Jerome Waite believed his Wolmer’s Boys team gave its best.
“I think they tried their best but at this level you know they are accustomed to errors and a couple of errors cost us as they allowed KC back into the game and they went with the momentum. But we still have another game to play and the most important thing is to see how best we can get back some of these players that came off injured,” Waite said.
Tuesday’s results
Kingston College 3, Wolmer’s Boys 1
Hydel 1, STATHS 0
Mona 2, Campion College 1
St Catherine 3, Calabar 1
Eltham 3, Jonathan Grant 0
St George’s College 1, St Jago 0
Jamaica College 5, Charlie Smith 0
Excelsior 2, Tivoli Gardens 0
