Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Ascot High goalkeeper Ricardo Boucher charges out for the ball between Camperdown's Chevaughn Warren (left) and teammate Raphael Leo (right) in ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup action at Vauxhall High, yesterday. Camperdown won 7-1. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

CAMPERDOWN CONTINUED to be the early pacesetters in Group E when they hammered Ascot 7-1 in ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup action at Vauxhall yesterday. In a decidedly one-sided affair, the Portmore team was never really in game as it was swamped by the unrelenting sea of its red-and-blue, clad opponents. Hot striker Vernal Smart got the first of his four goals in the seventh minute. Lacklustre defending saw Smart find himself with a pocket of space six yards away from goal and, with very little effort, he lobbed Ascot 'keeper Ricardo Boucher for the team's first goal.

No chance

Ascot hardly had a chance to catch their breaths before the referee was correctly pointing to the spot for a handled ball in the area three minutes later. Boucher guessed right but there was just too much power on the shot as Smart got his second.

Jeovannie Baxter rocked the stunned St. Catherine team even further with a 19th-minute blast, but Ascot did temporarily manage to stem the flow with a goal of their own in the 33rd minute through a deflected Nicholas Smith free kick. That respite, however, was short-lived. In the 39th minute, Smart rose high to head the ball from a corner past a helpless Boucher and into the back of the net from close range. Smart closed out his account in the 47th minute. Ramone Waite then showed a feathery touch to lob the goalkeeper for Camperdown's fifth goal in the 59th. He then blasted a beauty from 15 yards out to finally end Ascot's misery in injury time.

"I'm pleased with the three points. Our passing game looked good today but there are a couple of things we still need to work on," said Camperdown coach Andrew Williams. "We won by a big margin but that's because we fought for it." A disappointed coach of the young Ascot team, Everald Campbell, thought his side could have shown more fight.

"It was a poor result. I don't think the guys showed enough character today," Campbell said. "However, we have a couple of players that are yet to come into the team so that should shake things up a little for the rest of the season."