Happy Grove, Glenmuir enjoy wins under tough circumstances

HAPPY GROVE and Glenmuir registered ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup second-round wins yesterday at a Carder Park double-header to move to six points in Groups 5 and 7, respectively.

In the opening game, Happy Grove edged Denbigh 4-3, while in the feature, Glenmuir got by Titchfield 2-0.

Shevon Miller scored a hat-trick for Happy Grove, notching his marks on the referee’s card in the 19th, 51st, and 83rd minutes while teammate Jabari Ellis scored in the 70th. Denbigh’s Lashawn Barnaby gave as good as he got, scoring in the 28th, 76th, and 89th but got no help from teammates.

Happy Grove took the early lead through Miller, with Barnaby responding to leave the game 1-1 at halftime.

Happy Grove went 3-1 in front in the second half with 20 minutes to go but found a Denbigh team that would not go away, Barnaby evening the scores. Still, Happy Grove had more in them, with Ellis finding the winner with seven minutes left to play.

Coach of Happy Grove Vincent Wallace was happy to make it to the next round.

“It was a game of two halves. We played well in attack, but defensively, we fell a bit short, and we will have to make adjustments going forward. We are happy to book a spot for the next round, and we want to win our next game as this will be good going forward,” said Wallace.

Denbigh coach Garfieled Carney blamed ISSA for his team’s loss.

“To be honest with you, I knew it was going to be tough coming into the game as ISSA allowed coaches for games to be played to suit them and put my team at a disadvantage. We played on Thursday, and then to come to play at 2 p.m. on Saturday, this was tough for the guys. My team was ready to play on Wednesday, but because a coach, whose team played on Monday, called for postponement, ISSA yielded, and this put my team at a big disadvantage. The guys fought hard, losing 4-3, but I hope in future, ISSA will look into themselves and make right decisions for the benifit of the youngsters,” said Carney.

Later, Glenmuir would get goals from Orel Miller in the ninth and Orange Watson in the 19th minute to take over sole leadership of the group.

Previous leaders Paul Bogle were beaten 3-1 by defending champions Clarendon College at York Park.

Both Clarendon and Paul Bogle are on joint second with three points and an identical record of three goals for and three against.

With some seven minutes to go, the match was delayed for 20 minutes because of a lighting issue.

Andrew Point was happy for another win for his Glenmuir team, especially in light of a short turnaround between games.

“Happy for the win and three points despite the guys playing in games Thursday and today and with several stoppage, including delay because of the light system,” said Peart.

“We are just looking forward to our next game.”

Titchfield coach Raymond Gordon believes the loss has seriously hurt his team’s chances at qualification.

“Losing today makes it a difficult task for the team going forward. We will be hoping to get a positive result against Clarendon College in our final game,” he said.