Clarendon College shake off stomach bug to cop last semi-final spot
Published:Wednesday | December 22, 2021 | 12:14 AMKavarly Arnold/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Clarendon College took a massive step towards defending their ISSA daCosta Cup title after booking a place in the semi-finals of the football competition with a 3-1 quarter-final group win over McGrath High yesterday.
In the other group four game, Manchester High defeated Cornwall College 2-1 at Green Pond High in St James.
Both games were postponed last Saturday after Clarendon’s players picked up a stomach bug, rendering the team unavailable for the final fixture of the quarter-final stage.
Lenworth ‘Lenny’ Hyde, coach of Clarendon, said their performance was impacted by their recent illness but is happy they did enough to get the desired result.
“The performance was not bad but the energy level was low seeing that some of the players didn’t fully recover from the food poisoning that I thought they had. It wasn’t full of energy but the simplicity of how we played by possessing the ball was good enough to give us the win,” he said.
EARLY LEAD
Christopher Hull gave Clarendon the lead in the 15th minute. Two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Rushi Parchment made it 2-0 going into the break.
McGrath would try to make a contest of the game, pulling one back nine minutes into the second half through Halrick Taffe. However, Haheim Dixon restored Clarendon’s cushion in the 79th minute and saw his team to a comfortable win.
Hyde said looking back at their preparation coming into the season makes being in the semi-finals even more rewarding. He also welcomes the Christmas break that he believes will give them a chance to be even better come January.
“It’s a good feeling to be back there. We really worked to be here and especially not having a proper preseason. However, the talent that we have and them understanding the way we want to play has taken us this far,” Hyde said.
“We have time now to sit back and prepare. We can work on what we need to correct and improve on. We won’t only have daCosta Cup but we also have to prepare for the Champions Cup, which is very crucial as well. Every game is a final now and that’s how we will approach them,” he added.
The schoolboy football season now takes a break for the holiday season. The season resumes January 5 with the ISSA Champions Cup before the Manning and daCosta Cup a week later. The Walker and Ben Francis Knockout Cups will also debut for the season.
Clarendon topped the quarter-final group four with nine points which also sees them qualify for the ISSA Champions Cup. Manchester finished with six points and will contest both the Champions Cup and the Ben Francis Knockout Cup. Cornwall College, who only managed one win, will only feature in the Ben Francis Cup.