KC, Glenmuir, Clarendon, Hydel make Champions Cup semis

KINGSTON COLLEGE marched into the semifinals of the ISSA Champions Cup competition after coming from behind to beat Dinthill 3-2 in their quarterfinal at the National Stadium yesterday.

The result set up a date with Glenmuir High School, who were 1-0 winners over Mona High School at the St Elizabeth High School playing field yesterday.

Dinthill couldn’t have asked for a better start, as in the first minute of play Tyrese Gowe scored on the team’s first attack of the day.

However, the ‘purples’ slowly worked their way back into the match and got the equaliser after 34 minutes thanks to Robert Soew’s fine effort.

The North Street school took control afterwards and in the 41st minute Jaheim McLean headed home to give KC a 2-1 advantage.

The Vassell Reynolds-coached team then sealed their superiority when Seow was fouled in the area and he converted the resulting spot kick to put the defending champions 3-1 up at half-time.

Dinthill rediscovered their early enthusiasm at the start of the second half and cut the deficit to one goal when Giovanni Afflick turned home a low cross from six yards.

Although Dinthill desperately searched for the equalising goal, it never came despite a number of promising breaks.

Winning coach Reynolds said his team’s determination continues to impress him and that it was another satisfying display from his players.

“We continue to battle on and these boys have been exhibiting this sort of fighting spirit from the start of the competition and today it was no less.

“We went 1-0 down 30 seconds into the game. But I thought we ecquit ourselves well, although it took us a little time to do what we needed to do.

“But once we got it right tactically, we got two goals and I thought we could have put away the game from early in the second half but we missed a few chances.

“But overall I thought we deserved the victory. The team played well and showed a lot of guts in the end when Dinthill threw everything at us. So I am pretty satisfied with the performance,” he said.

Dinthill Technical’s Oneil Thomas said indiscipline set into the team after scoring early.

“After we scored the first goal, a little indiscipline crept in on the left side with our left back. But it is understandable because he is only 14 years old, and in a high-pressure game like this, I understand that he can get confused.

“But all in all, the two teams played well. We tried to get back but we couldn’t score another goal and that is how it worked out,” he commented.

In other quarterfinal games, Hydel turned back Garvey Maceo 4-2, while Clarendon College beat St George’s College 3-1 to book a semifinal date with each other.