Norman Manley slip puts them in danger

NEEDING TO win to solidify their place in the second round of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition, Norman Manley fell 2-1 to Dunoon Technical in their Group D match at Excelsior high school yesterday.

However, the Maxfield Park-based school remains third on 16 points, behind group winners Jonathan Grant who turned back Tarrant 2-0 to top the standings with 23 points. St Andrew Technical High School ended second with 21 points.

Nevertheless, Norman Manley are still in a great position to take one of the four best third-place spots.

Norman Manley play Spanish Town in their final group game on Friday and coach Shane Gage remains positive.

“It was a tough game (against Dunoon). From the start we realised the boys weren’t concentrating and poor concentration throughout the game was our downfall,” he surmised.

“We came with the objective to get three points and getting no point is a big disappointment, as we were planning on taking the maximum for the two games remaining.

“It is a setback to what we hoped for but we are still in with a chance. We have Jonathan Grant, which should be a tough one but at the end of the day, we are capable, so we will work on what we need to work on. We come with our game plan and try our best to execute,” he said.

Norman Manley controlled possession throughout the game but it was Dunoon who took the lead when Omar Robinson broke through and fired his effort off defender Antonio Mitchell for the opener.

However, Norman Manley drew level two minutes later when Trevaunie Whitfield took a long ball expertly on the chest before calmly slotting past Nickoy Taylor in goal.

Norman Manley continued to dictate the tempo after the break and hit the bar twice through Whitfield and Chevaughn Rennie.

Norman Manley were reduced to 10 players when Whitfield was shown the red card for a dangerous tackle in the 67th minute

Habbie Mohammed then put Dunoon 2-1 ahead in the 78th minute with a rasping shot from outside the area.

Norman Manley were relentless in their hunt for an equaliser and had a great chance at the death but Kimarly Foster inexplicably put the ball wide of the target from three yards.

Dunoon coach Jahmai Pettigrew said it was a gutsy performance from his charges.

“We played them last week and lost 2-0. We made a few adjustments and came back today (yesterday) and dug deep and we found a goal good enough to win a game. It’s a gutsy performance from some 13, 14 and 15-year-olds,” he said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Other results:

Jamaica College 9 - Cedar Grove 0

St Jago 4 - Holy Trinity 0

St Catherine 7 - St Mary’s College 1

Today’s games:

Ardenne v Meadowbrook at Ardenne

Calabar v St George’s College at Calabar

Waterford v Kingston College at Waterford

All games begin at 3pm*