Maldon come away with a point from historic second-round game

MALDON HIGH School’s first foray into the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup second round ended with a point yesterday after their game with Brown’s Town in Group 4 ended 1-1.

While the two are off the mark, they will now have to watch today’s game between Munro and Alphansus Davis to see if the point they earned will leave them with some catching up to do.

In Group 1, today, there will be an interesting clash between Spot Valley High School, who, having won their Zone D ahead of perennial contenders William Knibb High School, still find themselves considered underdogs against Rusea’s High School.

Spot Valley’s coach, Damion Nelson, says he is still aiming for three points at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Trelawny when the game begins at 3:30 p.m.

Rusea’s finished second in Zone B and now find themselves part of the tough Group 1 with Cornwall College and Kemps Hill.

“It is a home game, so we have to go all out and play to win. At this stage of the competition, win, lose, or draw is the name of game. When it comes on to second round, it’s not about who plays the best football, but who can score and defend properly. It is more psychological than physical,” Nelson said.

As for preparations, Nelson, a former Rusea’s player himself, is aware of what his opposition is all about.

“Most of their games come on YouTube, so we know their strengths and weaknesses. Based on our review on how they play, we will put what we did in training and execute,” Nelson said.

He continued, “We got more rest, so we put in a system of play and how we want to approach the pitch. We expect to play a good game, score and not concede.”

Paul ‘Tegat’ Davis, coach of Rusea’s, reasoned that if the team is consistently disciplined, they can go against any team.

“I hope that by winning games, the players will be confident, start believing in themselves, and go all the way. We are a young team not playing the best brand of football but are getting goals. We need to play our game, be mindful of what they can do, and pick our moments to go at them,” Davis told The Gleaner.

“We are playing a hungry Spot Valley team. They beat one of the better teams, William Knibb, and didn’t lose any games in the first round. They are playing some good football,” Davis added.

Yesterday, Cornwall and Kemps Hill played to a 1-1 draw, leaving the opportunity for either Spot Valley or Rusea’s an opportunity to grab an early lead in the group.

Yesterday’s Results

Maldon 1-1 Brown’s Town

Christiana 0-1 Garvey Maceo

Happy Grove 3-2 Holmwood

Ocho Rios 0-0 Black River

McGrath 8-1 St Mary High

Manning’s 0-1 Manchester

STETHS 2-0 William Knibb

Paul Bogle 3-0 Titchfield

Cornwall 1-1 Kemps Hill

Today’s matches

Central vs Yallahs

Glenmuir vs Clarendon

Belair vs Denbigh

Frome vs Cedric Titus

Munro vs Alphansus Davis