Bridgeport stun Edith Dalton with last-second strike
Published:Tuesday | September 13, 2022 | 12:07 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer -
Tafari Harriott's added time winner stunned home team Edith Dalton James High and ensured Bridgeport High had a winning start to their Manning Cup season yesterday. Bridgeport won the Group C encounter 3-2.
Assistant coach and former Waterhouse midfielder, Theo Brown, said the win is a major boost to their confidence but insists they have to improve in order to build on their positive start to the season.
"Hats off to the guys. It was a hard-fought victory, and one of the nicest ways to get a win is in the last minute. So I am very proud of the guys on this first victory," he said.
"But we have some things we need to work on on the training ground. We need to work on the function of the team and what the players are required to do.
"But Rome wasn't built in a day, so it's a day-by-day process. But today's win put the belief in the guys that they can do it and we want to improve and take it from here."
The visitors took the lead two minutes before the interval through a Jordane McDowell strike, and although Edith Dalton equalised through Ahkeem Gooden in the 52nd minute, Shakeem Wilson restored Bridgeport's advantage four minutes later.
However, in the 72nd minute, Gooden pulled Edith level again when he scored with a diving header during a melee from a corner.
Both teams went for the win in the final minutes and both had good openings but the wet and slippery conditions made taking those chances difficult.
Then with virtually the last kick of the game, Harriott latched on to a looping cross from the left and slammed a vicious volley past Carlle Williams in Edith Dalton's goal.
Edith Dalton's coach, Omar Taffe, said the defeat was hard to take.
"Just some simple errors cost us the game because of a lack of concentration in the final minutes. To work so hard and give it away in the last minute is difficult to take," he said.
In another Group C match, Tivoli High slammed Vauxhall High 4-0.
In Zone A, Waterford High blanked Meadowbrook High 3-0, while in Zone F Cumberland High clipped Jose Marti High 1-0.