Carl Spence, Gleaner Writer

Calabar's Andre Braitwaite (left) tries to dribble past Jamaica College's Asani Walker during the school's Under-16 game for the Keane-Crosskill Trophy at Jamaica College, Old Hope Road on Saturday. Calabar won the match 1-0. - Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

Last season's all-island schoolboy football champions, Calabar High, and former Manning Cup champions, Jamaica College (JC) shared the Keane-Crosskill Shield after both schools were matched in all three youth departments in what was a full day of football at JC's Hope Road playing field, on Saturday.

The shield which was named in honour of former Manning Cup players, Basil Keane of Calabar, and Hugh Croskill, of Jamaica College, was to be awarded to the most successful of the two schools following the combined results for the teams represented in the Pepsi Under-14, Colts Under-16 and Manning Cup. At the end of the day, both schools had a win each, while drawing the other encounter.

The host school started the day on a high note, when they took the Under-14 game 3-2, thanks to goals from Jabeb Salesman, Javaughn Harvey and Jory Watson, while Calabar's goals came from Kadeen Ricketts and Devon Walker.

The Under-16 game was bit different, however, and saw Dino Scaff scoring the game's only goal within the final ten minutes of play to give Calabar a 1-0 win. The 'Old Boys' match saw Calabar walking away 2-1 winners while the Manning Cup teams played to a 0-0 scoreline.

Good exercise

"The game was a pretty good exercise considering the selection of players used in the game," said Alfred Henry, coach of Jamaica College's Manning Cup team.

In commenting on the team's performance with the start of the Manning Cup just a couple of weeks away, Henry said they were looking to advance to the second round of their group.

"It's difficult to predict what will happen when the season starts as a number of our players are still uncertain for next season, but our team still stands a good chance of making it to the second round," he added.

Lijyasu Simms who was deputising for National Under-17 coach, David Hunt was pleased with his team's performance considering its strength.

"The majority of our players in the Manning Cup game were Colts players so I am really satisfied with the performance," he said.

"I think we totally dominated the game and had some chances that should have been converted but I'm satisfied," he added.

Simms was, however, very brief in commenting on his team's expectations in the Manning Cup.

"I think the unit that will be playing in the Manning Cup will represent the school very well," he noted.