Gibbs leads show as KC thump Waterford
Published:Tuesday | October 11, 2022 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Kingston College’s (KC) season so far has been defined by the exploits of their number 10 Dujuan Richards. However, it was Nashordo Gibbs who stole the spotlight as the defending ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champions all but secured their passage to the second round in dominating fashion.
KC thumped Waterford yesterday in their Group A at Stadium East Field, thanks to the heroics of Gibbs, who scored a second-half hat trick (58th, 65th and 66th minutes) while they also got goals from Jaheem Johnson (30th), Ashaine Kennedy (32nd), Richards in the 45th minute, Tajarie Lee in the 85th minute and Bryan Byam in the 88th minute as they extended their winning streak to seven games and have now scored 24 goals in their last three games.
KC assistant coach Jermaine Miller said that as much as the team has relied on Richards for his goalscoring prowess, he was pleased with how he was able to affect the game in other ways and for Gibbs to continue offering a goalscoring spark from the bench
“Dujuan is a very important player to our team and he has been getting a lot of goals. But he showed his class today (yesterday) in another form, creating many chances for his teammates. Nashordo has been coming off the bench and giving us goals and he continues to do so. We are happy with the entire team’s performance,” Miller told The Gleaner.
GIBBS’ GOAL
Already leading 3-0 at halftime, Gibbs who was introduced in the second half didn’t take long for his presence to be felt on the pitch as he used an eight-minute span to eliminate any hopes that Waterford had of salvaging something from a game that they needed to win to keep their hopes of a second-round place alive.
With their long-awaited North Street encounter against St George’s College fast approaching, Miller said that the win and their current form put them in the right frame of mind although not allowing the recent huge scorelines to lull them into a false sense of security.
“We just want to continue to progress. We are getting better with each game. I know it is a possibility that we will have a bad game. But we just want to keep our heads high and keep performing at the top level,” Miller said.
Waterford while being outclassed were also outmanned in the goalkeeping position as their first and second-string goalkeepers were injured, forcing outfield player Richard Wasome to take the reins in goal for the latter part of the game. Waterford head coach Kevin Reid said that both will be evaluated for any serious injuries, but acknowledged that the team did not rise to the occasion against a dangerous KC team.
“It is not easy to come up against a team like KC and then lose both goalkeepers at the same time. We paid for it. We didn’t come here with our A-game,” Reid said.
Meanwhile, St George’s College defeated Calabar 2-1 to move three points closer (18) to KC (21) ahead of their long-awaited battle on Saturday.
Yesterday’s results
Group A
Kingston College 8 Waterford 0
St George’s College 2 Calabar 1
Meadowbrook 1 Ardenne 1
Today’s games
Group B
Cedar Grove Academy vs St Mary’s College
Jamaica College vs Holy Trinity
St Jago High vs St Catherine High
Group C
Bridgeport High vs Vauxhall
Edith Dalton James vs Charlie Smith High
Haile Selassi High vs Tivoli High
Group E
Hydel High vs Camperdown High
Mona High vs Wolmers Boys
Papine High vs Kingston High
All games kick off at 3 p.m.