By Charmaine Austin, Staff ReporterPEOPLE CRIED openly, with some being inconsolable.
"Lawd it unfair. Jago gone," said student Sasha-Gay Turner but one of her schoolmates was more optimistic, saying, "Ah so life go."
When it was all over, supporters from near and far trudged out of the venue dejectedly, mourning the loss.
No it wasn't a funeral but it might as well have been.
This was the scene after St. Jago lucked out of the Manning Cup football competition after playing to a 0-0 draw with defending champions Norman Manley at Emmet Park yesterday.
If the match could have been won on spectator support alone, St. Jago would have gone clear but fate had other plans and put 'Manley' among the four teams to contest the semi-finals.
IN SUPPORT
Every school outside of the two competitors that was present at the venue was in support of St. Jago.
A positive vibe permeated the air inside their dressing room before the game and if God himself had told them that they would have lost, they would not have believed.
"It is so unfair but it doesn't matter. St. Jago is still a good team. Just getting to this stage is an achievement in itself. There will be more competitions that we will take part in and win. We are still victors," Turner said.
St. Jago reached the second round of the competition for the first time and boasted an impressive season record going into the match.
Until yesterday, they had not lost a match and conceded only one goal.
Still, that could not guarantee them passage to the next round.
Team members were disappointed but none more than Howard Williams, who got a red card in the 69th minute for disorderly conduct.
He does not blame himself for the team's loss, saying he is just as hurt.
"I don't feel guilty because it wasn't my fault why we lost. The referee didn't see that I was hit first and was retaliating but I respect his decision and my only regret is having to watch my team lose from the bench.
"We performed to the best of our ability and I really wanted us to win. Losing hurts," Williams said.
...Norman Manley in semi-finals
By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter
DUNOON, BRIDGEPORT and Excelsior advanced to the semi-finals of the ISSA Pepsi/Sports Plus Manning Cup competition at Spanish Town Prison Oval yesterday.
Also advancing to the final four are defending champs Norman Manley, who broke St. Jago's winning streak and sent them home, playing to a 0-0 scoreline at Emmet Park.
Norman Manley advanced over St. Jago because of a superior goal difference.
In a game of academic interest, Charlie Smith hammered Wolmer's 4-1 in the opener to the Norman Manley and St. Jago game.
COLLAPSED
Dunoon drubbed Donald Quarrie 4-2 in the opening game at the Prison Oval, scoring all their goals in the second half. Late in the first half, Donald Quarrie's top defender Maradona Mason collapsed due to dehydration and had to be rushed to the Spanish Town Hospital which, fortunately, was right across the road. Mason's absence and
the ejection of Donald Quarrie's top striker, Horatio Taffe, early in the second half made it almost impossible for them to get back in the game.
Tafari Fairley (48th), Marlon Benbow (56th), Hewit McKenzie (63rd) and Michael Blygen (80th) carried the torch for Dunoon en route to a semi-final spot. Kemar Loxley (33rd) and Kemar Cockburn (84th) scored the consolation goals for Donald Quarrie.
Quarrie's coach, Owen Wright, said the tempo shifted in favour of Dunoon after Mason's collapse.
"The game completely changed after Maradona came out and the referees gave us a hard time ... but I'm still proud of my team," Wright said.
Unlike the Norman Manley and St. Jago encounter, it was a win-win situation for Bridgeport and Excelsior in their 0-0 game. Bridgeport topped their group with seven points and a +7 goal difference while Excelsior earned best second-placed team - also with seven points but with a +3 goal difference, one more than St. Jago.
Excelsior's coach, Leebert Halliman, gave credit to his opponents and congratulated his team on its performance.
"Bridgeport are a good team and I think they are the best team in my zone. They play very hard and they have some skilful players but we had a plan and we worked to the plan and we succeeded," Halliman said.
