Ocho Rios stop William Knibb 1-0

Ocho Rios High clipped William Knibb Memorial High School 1-0 in a very intense and high-energy clash in their Zone C first round of the schoolboys ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup football competition at William Knibb Sports Complex yesterday.

The goalless first half was filled with excitement, with both goalkeepers performing acrobatic saves. However, Ocho Rios held the upper hand and made better decisions while having possession.

William Knibb gained momentum in the second half as they were more energised and dominated their opponents, but Ocho Rios' defenders made it tough for them to score.

The deadlock was broken in the 87th minute when substitute Kaneil Brown curved the ball into the right side of the net to provide Ocho Rios with the victory. Brown was aided by a costly error by William Knibb's goalkeeper, Kemal Benjamin, who ran from goal and lost the ball.

Veron Peterkin, coach of Ocho Rios High, was happy for the three points earned on the road and praised his Man-of-the-Match goalkeeper Maleek Martin, who was lifted in the air by teammates for stopping several attempts at goal.

"It was a good game, a tight game. I love the fight from the boys, to be honest, and I love their commitment. The Man of the Match was brilliant. He deserves a bucket of chicken, as the boys were saying. It was a well-fought game. Honestly, it could have gone either way. William Knibb, I love how they attacked and committed to their style," Peterkin said.

The disgruntled Dwight Jeremiah, coach of William Knibb, blamed the referee for their demise.

"The way the game was played throughout, the referee didn't help. It is a contact sport, but the tugging and dragging of players didn't help. Some of those calls were off as my team was off in the first half," Jeremiah said.

"He (referee) continued in the second half. We picked up what we did, and in the end, we didn't deserve to lose because it was two halves where we could say Ocho edged the first one, and we totally dominated the second.

"It's a big zone with three coming out of it. We have four home games but three after this one, so we have to maximise and take it from there," Jeremiah expressed.