Denham Town ambush St George's

Denham Town High surprised home team St George's College 2-1 in a close and exciting Group C ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup football match at Winchester Park yesterday.

The defeat was the first for George's at home since they were defeated by Bridgeport in 2007.

Denham Town stunned the many-time champions with two quick goals in the first half. Jerome Jeffrey opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Shevon Richards netted seven minutes later (21st) for a 2-0 advantage at the half-time break.

However, in the second half, St George's pulled back a goal when Hakim Williams scored in the 62nd minute.

Denham Town played a disciplined game and came out deserved winners against the title favourites.

GOOD TACTICAL GAME

"Our game plan was to attack the right hand channel as we realised their weaknesses there from the first game, so we focused on that the entire week. It was a good tactical game from the team," Denham Town coach Omar Edwards told The Gleaner.

"We knew that St George's are a team that loves to keep the ball and move it around, so we caught them on the counter and scored two quick goals early in the match. Now, we look forward to our last preliminary-round game," Edwards, who is also a national Under-17 assistant coach, added.

Meanwhile, veteran St George's College coach Neville 'Bertis' Bell praised Denham Town team for their performance.

"I don't think it was our best day. Credit to Denham Town as they did not allow us to play," Bell admitted.

"We did not want to lose this game, but we still have a chance to win the group as we have another game remaining in the round," he pointed out.

The race for spots in the second round is intense as St George's College, Innswood and Denham Town are locked on 19 points apiece. However, St George's have a superior goal difference.

TODAY'S GAMES

Group A

Jamaica College vs St Catherine

Group D

St Mary's College vs Charlie Smith

Holy Trinity vs St Andrew Tech

Group E

St Jago vs Bridgeport

Wolmer's vs Mona

Group G

Camperdown vs Kingston College

Jose Marti vs Waterford

Rescheduled Games

Group B

Greater Portmore vs Hydel High

Haile Selassie vs Dunoon Tech.

Group C

Innswood High vs Eltham High

Group F

Ascot High vs Excelsior High

Norman Manley vs Jonathan Grant High (To complete last eight minutes)

(The Camperdown/KC match will kick off at 3 p.m. All other games start at 3:30 p.m.)