Dunoon stun Norman Manley

Needing to win to solidify their place in the second round of the ISSA Manning Cup competition, 10-man Norman Manley High were clipped 2-1 by Dunoon Technical in their Group D match at Excelsior High yesterday.

However, Norman Manley are still in a great position to take one of the four best third-place spots. The Maxfield Park-based school remain in third on 16 points, behind group winners Jonathan Grant High who turned back Tarrant High 2-0 to top the standings with 23 points. St Andrew Technical ended in second with 21 points. Dunoon are fourth on nine points and out of contention for a place in the second round.

Norman Manley play Spanish Town in their final group game on Friday and coach Shane Gage remains positive.

"It was a tough game (against Dunoon). From the start we realised the boys weren't concentrating and that poor concentration throughout the game was our downfall," Gage said.

"We came with the objective to get three points and getting no point is a big disappointment as we were planning on taking the maximum for the two games remaining," he added..

Norman Manley controlled possession throughout the game but it was Dunoon who took the lead when Omar Robinson broke through and fired his effort off defender Antonio Mitchell for the opener.

Norman Manley drew level two minutes later when Trevaunie Whitfield took a long ball expertly on the chest before calmly slotting past Nickoy Taylor in goal.

Norman Manley continued to dictate the tempo after the break and hit the bar twice through Whitfield and Chevaughn Rennie.

Norman Manley were reduced to 10 players when Whitfield was sent off after a dangerous tackle in the 67th minute.

Habbie Mohammed then put Dunoon 2-1 ahead in the 78th minute with a rasping shot from outside the area.

Dunoon's coach Jahmai Pettigrew said it was a gutsy performance from his players.

"We played them last week and lost 2-0. We made a few adjustments and came back today (Tuesday) and dug deep. It's a gutsy performance from a team which is made up of mostly 13, 14 and 15 year olds," he said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Other results:

Jamaica College 9 Cedar Grove 0

St Jago 4 Holy Trinity 0

St Catherine 7- St Mary's College 0

Today's games:

Ardenne vs Meadowbrook at Ardenne

Calabar vs St George's College at Calabar

Waterford vs Kingston College at Waterford

All games kick off at 3 p.m.