Rasbert Turner, Star Writer

Kingston College (KC) exacted a measure of revenge on Jago and in the process kept their season alive, beating the St Catherine team 2-0 in a crucial ISSA/ Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup fixture at St Jago yesterday.

In the reverse fixture between the teams at Cloverly Park, it was St Jago who celebrated after soundly beating the North Street boys 3-1. However, on this occasion, a goal a-piece from Christopher Harrison and KC's leading scorer Prince Samuels, ensured the tables were turned at Monk Street. More importantly, it pulled the purples level with St Jago on 13 points each, although both trail leaders Norman Manley (23) with three games remaining.

The teams played scrappy football in the first half, which ended 0-0, however, on the resumption, it was the North Street team who started to play a more cohesive brand of football and really dominated the game through the likes of Harrison, Samuels and Rashid Malcolm.

They were duly compensated for their efforts in the 65th minute, when Samuels latched on to a ball after beating his marker, and simply carried it into the back of the net, stunning the Jago crowd into silence.

The goal served to buoy the KC team, which continued to dominate affairs, right up until the 84th minute of play, when Harrison received a ball from Ovan Oakley to coolly put the ball into the back of the net. The goal prompted rapturous applause from the KC supporters on hand, and a mass exodus of St Jago supporters from the ground.

desperate attempts

With time running out, desperate attempts by Jago was not enough to secure a consolation goal, despite the best efforts of Maschell Baker and Cruise Frankson. The result was a satisfactory one for Wayne Fairclough, who termed the win "sweet revenge."

"We knew we had to win and Kingston College is a team that plays better under pressure, this gives us a sweeter ride home, it is said that revenge is a dish best served cold," he said.

St Jago assistant coach Jermaine Thomas said the players were simply not up to par.

"We did not control the midfield and for the most part we played like we just did not care, we just have to go back to the drawing board and revamp our approach," he said.

Yesterday's Results

Group B

Haile Selassie 0 Innswood 2

Norman Manley 0 Jose Marti 0

St Jago 0 Kingston College 2

Group C

Trench Town 0 Spanish Town 2

Cumberland 0 Excelsior 2

Tarrant 0 Calabar 8

Group F

St Mary's College 2 Kingston Tech 0

Ascot 0 St George's College 0

Today's matches

Group A

Waterford vs Edith Dalton-James

Pembroke Hall vs Jamaica College

Donald Quarrie vs Penwood

Group D

STATHS vs Camperdown

Meadowbrook vs Wolmer's

Group E

Holy Trinity vs Bridgeport

Tivoli vs St Catherine

Kingston High vs St Andrew College