‘Bad day at the office’ for winning Clarendon

CLARENDON COLLEGE (CC) technical director Lenworth ‘Teacha’ Hyde says his team had a bad day at the office despite carving out a 1-0 win over Central High to kick off the quarterfinal round of the ISSA daCosta Cup.

A jam-packed Foga Road High School ground, filled with mostly CC supporters, came to watch their team put a beating on their Clarendon neighbours, but instead, they witnessed over 90 minutes of good defensive football, mainly from the Central team.

The last time Clarendon College played at the Foga Road venue, they were on the scoresheet within seconds against Rusea’s High, however, yesterday, CC had to wait until the 39th minute before they would get the go-ahead goal.

The ever-present Malachi Douglas was on hand inside the area to side-foot a knockdown past hard-working Central goalkeeper Leon Ricketts.

Before that goal, Ricketts and his backline, consisting of Anrick Gordon and Emory Ayton, kept Douglas, Kaheim Dixon, and Okeemo Jones at bay with some well-coordinated defensive work.

That was the exact tactic that Central coach, Jermain Douglas, wanted his troops to implement, and it worked for the most part, up until the lone goal that decided the contest.

“We came out with a plan to deny this CC team space because we knew they would possess the ball, but we wanted to dictate where they possess the ball. It is a pity that the goal we conceded was from an error, but such is football,” said Douglas.

While Douglas wasn’t too harsh on his players, Hyde lamented the standard of his team’s play, saying it was not Clarendon College’s brand of football.

“We didn’t play our general game because we lost our heads in some stages of the game. We made a lot of mistakes by turning over the ball, hence the game was to-and-fro, but we got one goal, and we defended well to get the three points,” said Hyde.

Those three points Hyde mentioned are valuable with two games to go before the semi-finals.

“Teams are watching us, and they are planning for us, but we have to dig deep and find wins like these. When you are not performing well, you show your true character and find ways to win the game, and that is what we did today.”

In other results on Wednesday, Manchester High defeated Frome Technical 1-0. It was the same scoreline as Manning’s got the better of William Knibb, while Edwin Allen also clipped Dinthill Technical 1-0.

Yesterday’s Results

Manchester 1 – 0 Frome

Manning’s 1 – 0 William Knibb

Dinthill 0 – 1 Edwin Allen

Clarendon College 1 – 0 Central