Stalemate satisfaction - KC, STGC coaches happy with draw, as C'down and 'Trinity' secure big wins
Published:Wednesday | October 24, 2018 | 12:00 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
Ludlow Bernard, head coach of Kingston College (KC) and Marcel Gayle, assistant coach of St George's College (StGC), were both satisfied with the performance of their respective teams, after their 0-0 stalemate in Group H ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup quarter-final action at Stadium East yesterday.
Where the North Street Derby failed to thrill, Camperdown and Charlie Smith certainly provided excitement by the ton in the earlier kick-off, with Camperdown rallying to win 3-2, while elsewhere, another high profile clash - Jamaica College vs St Andrew Technical, also failed to produce any goals.
The KC/StGC contest failed in large part to live up to its billing, given the expectations around a gifted KC unit and a St George's College team that, despite losing some of its shine over the last couple seasons, remain local schoolboy football royalty.
The first half was evenly contested with both teams cancelling out each other at both ends of the field, with scoring opportunities at a premium.
KC's best scoring chance in the first half fell at the feet of Trevyon Reid, but his shot from 10-yards out, went wide of the target.
Nathaniel Campbell received the Light Blues' best opportunity in the first stanza, but his 25-yards free-kick was tipped over the crossbar by custodian Chadeen Rodriques, as both teams went throughout the majority of the game seemingly more concerned about not losing, rather being determined to win.
Despite the lack of goals, Bernard believes his team played a tactically-sound game and says they are now looking forward to their next encounter on Saturday against Charlie Smith.
Keenly contested
"It was a good game between both teams. It will impact our team positively," said Bernard. "We played a good game and got a favourable result."
"That (a point) was not what I wanted, but we have to be grateful for what we got," Bernard said.
Gayle also thinks that a point was a favourable return for his team.
"It was a satisfying result for us based on the performance of the guys because I thought they played well and they followed instructions right through the game," said Gayle.
"It was a derby game and probably we could have done some things differently, but we didn't wanted to lose and neither did KC and so I think it was a fair result and we will take this going forward," said Gayle, whose team will face Camperdown in their next game on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Camperdown took early control of the group following their stunning come-from-behind 3-2 win over Charlie Smith in the opening game of the double-header.
The Christopher Bender-coached team went into half-time trailing 2-0 after Kemoy Bailey (36th) and Renoldo Cephas (37th) sent Jerome Waite's boys in control of the fixture. However, a penalty from Jeovanni Laing (56th) and strikes from Renaldo Edwards (67th) and Ziddon Braithwaite (88th), ensured that the boys from East Kingston would secure an important win ahead of their assignments with the KC and St George's.Meanwhile, in Group G, defending champions Jamaica College were held to a 0-0 draw by St Andrew Technical in a repeat of last year's final, while Holy Trinity clipped Wolmer's 2-1.