McGrath, Central start round of 16 well

MCGRATH HIGH School maintained their winning form in the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup football competition, narrowly clipping Dinthill Technical 3-2 to get their Zone 4 round-of-16 campaign off and running.

In what was an exciting encounter, McGrath took the early lead when forward Jimm Mitchell slipped by two defenders inside the six-yard box to notch a 13th-minute mark on the referee’s card.

Down early, Denbigh fought gallantly to get back on level terms.

Ryando Harvey, after dismissing two players on the left wing, relayed a pass to Lashawn Barnaby, who scored from close range to level things in the 22nd minute.

Both teams went tit for tat for the remainder of the half, with Mitchell restoring the lead for McGrath in the 36th minute to leave his side with the slimmest of advantages going into the break.

Just three minutes after the restart, McGrath increased their lead through Moses Rumble, who scored from an acute angle.

Down by two goals, Denbigh, through good combinations among Barnaby, Kenardo Smith, and Harvey, were rewarded in the 87th of play.

Persistently harassing the McGrath defenders, Denbigh earned a penalty.

Barnaby scored from the spot for his second goal of the match and ninth in the past four games.

Denbigh tried hard to get back on even terms but McGrath held on for the win and three valuable points, the same as zone leaders Central, who have a better goal difference.

Central defeated Manchester High 3-1.

Winning coach Jermaine Thomas credited his boys for the win.

“It was a good win for the team as the objective is to take one game at a time. It is a good start for us in the round of 16. Now it is all about recovery going into the next game on Wednesday,” said Thomas.

Denbigh coach Garfield Carney was not pleased with the physical tactics of his opponents.

“I knew coming to play today would have been a tough game against a good McGrath team. We came to play football today, but McGrath team did not come to play football as they were overly aggressive, and the officials did nothing about it. However, I must commend my boys for their fighting spirit as after being down by two goals, they fought back gallantly,” he said.