Eltham High’s Allen: Winning is not new to us

With their sixth-straight win of the season following their 2-0 victory over Dunoon Park Technical High on Saturday, Eltham High’s head coach, Gregory Allen, says his team are no strangers to the second round of the ISSA Manning Cup competition.

Eltham booked their spot in the next round with two games left to play in Zone A as goals from Jemar Powis in the 37th minute and Daniel Reid in the 79th minute were enough to secure all three points for the team from Spanish Town.

The win sees Eltham continue their unbeaten run in Zone A with maximum 18 points, scoring 30 goals in the process while they have not yet conceded this season.

While most would not have expected such a dominant start from Eltham this year, Allen said his team’s performance does not come as a surprise as they are not strangers to winning their first-round zones.

“If persons look back, we started Manning Cup football in 2005. From 2005 to 2010, it was only once that we didn’t win our group,” he said.

“It is not something that is new to us, so we know what to expect come the second round, and we will know where we stand against stronger opposition.”

While the echoes of those past teams have since faded, Allen said there is still an expectation of excellence in this year’s generation of players.

Eltham had made it to the round of 16 in last year’s staging of the competition but were beaten 6-1 on aggregate across two legs by a strong Jamaica College unit.

With the second round of this year’s competition being a four-team group format, Allen is expecting strong opposition once again.

“Most definitely it will be more difficult from the second round on,” he said. “I have been coaching Manning Cup from 2005, so I know that the second round brings about greater challenges, so that is what we’re looking forward to.

“When you play against the better opponents in the competition, you can see where you are at, so I know the second round is going to be really challenging,” he added.

While Eltham are seen as dark horses this season, Allen said his only expectation is to ensure that the players give of their best in every game in the competition.

He said once this is achieved, he will be satisfied with wherever the team places in the Manning Cup.

“One of the main aims of this setup is just to work hard, and wherever it takes us, we are comfortable with it. All I ask of the boys is to just work hard and do what you have to do. I just ask them to play to my instructions, and it will take us from there,” Allen said.

He continued, “As I’ve said before, and this is one of our mantras, we never give up, and we plan to work hard and do most things right.”

Eltham will next face Clan Carthy on Friday before closing out the first round with a highly anticipated fixture against zone rivals Hydel High.