Manning Cup: Hydel too hot for KC

Hydel High inflicted a stunning 4-0 defeat on many-time Manning Cup champions Kingston College (KC) at the Royal Lakes Complex yesterday.

The North Street-based KC played from the 20th minute with 10 players, with referee Odette Hamilton sending O'Neil Bryan to the dressing room early for a hard aerial challenge on Damaine Smith, who was on his way to the goal.

Kialand Smith had earlier given Hydel a 12th minute lead after clearance blunders by Ronaldinho Richards and goalkeeper Dominic Robinson gifted him an open goal and he scored from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Ronaldo Barrett added to KC's woes in the 45th minute when he powered past Robinson inside the six-yard box after another failed clearance attempt from a swerving corner. The ball landed perfectly for the unmarked Barrett.

KC went further behind early in the second half. D'Sean Henry was left unmarked inside the box and he collected a pass and fired over the hapless Robinson in the 52nd minute.

Smith completed the scoring for the winners when he slammed home past Robinson from a quick counterattack by Hydel after one of KC's limited forays into the Hydel penalty box.

Hydel's assistant coach, Oshane Tomlinson, was happy for the win despite admitting they lacked cohesion on the field.

"I think we played in patches overall. It could have been a much better performance, but I give thanks for the three points.

"We didn't start with our intended 11. That threw off the chemistry of the team. We were chasing the game, and when they went down to 10, we were still all over the place. Nonetheless, we will come again for a much better performance next time," Tomlinson said.

KC's coach Vassell Reynolds believes his youthful aggregation performed creditably after going down to 10 men.

"For the most part, we didn't do too bad. We started a little shakily and gifted Hydel two goals. We improved somewhere towards the end of the first half, and put up a good show and kept the score at 2-0.

"It was always going to be a long shot against a very experienced Hydel team, going down a man short early in the game especially since we showcased 10 under-16 players," Reynolds said.

Yesterday's results

Hydel 4 KC 0

Spanish Town 2 Meadowbrook 2Cumberland 1 KTHS 3

Cedar Grove 1 Tarrant 2

Clan Carthy 0 Excelsior 3

Bridgeport 0 STATHS 6

Edith Dalton 7 St Mary's College 0

St Catherine 3 Innswood 0

Wolmer's 6 Donald Quarrie 3