Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Title aspirants Hydel were held to a 2-2 draw by Denham Town High at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex, as action continued in Group C of the ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel Manning Cup yesterday.

Hydel, who began the season with a 1-1 draw against defending champions St George's College and went on to record three consecutive wins, led 2-0 at the half-time interval, thanks to a double from outstanding midfielder Giovanni Green.

However, Denham Town, determined not to play second fiddle in front of their supportive home fans, found an extra gear in the second half, and courtesy of midfielder Nakeem Kirkpatrick Samuel Bready were able to pull level.

"We played well in the first 30 minutes, but beyond that we fell asleep," said Hydel coach Geoffrey Maxwell.

"It was a bit disappointing, but having said that, credit must be given to Denham Town for fighting back."

Confident Hydel

Coming off a 9-0 win over Dunoon, a 1-0 victory over Cumberland, and a 7-0 thrashing of Clan Carthy, Hydel started the game confidently, and in the 18th minute took the lead through a close-range header from Green.

Sensing that their opponents were down, Hydel continued to up the tempo thereafter, and in the 39th minute were rewarded through Green, who, left unmarked in the area, pounced on a loose ball before slamming home.

Different in the second half

Seemingly buoyed by coach Desmond Francis' half-time speech, Denham Town came out a different team in the second half, and in the 48th minute pulled a goal back via the boots of Kirkpatrick, who capitalised on a mix-up by Hydel's defenders inside the area.

The goal spurred Denham Town on, and in one of their subsequent attacks they were able to draw level in the 78th minute, albeit as a result of a controversial penalty, which was converted by Bready.

"Hats off to my team, it was a good performance," said Denham Town coach Desmond Francis.

"We took a while to pick up their system of play in the first half, but we talked about it at half-time and that changed the way we played.

"We now plan to build on this result going forward."

The draw resulted in Hydel relinquishing the lead of the group to St George's, who defeated Clan Carthy 3-0 away in the group's other matchup.

St George's are now on 13 points, Hydel 11, and Denham Town 5, while Clan Carthy and Cumberland are on four points each. Dunoon are yet to record a point.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

GROUP C

Clan Carthy 0 St George's 3

Denham Town 2 Hydel 2

Cumberland 3 Dunoon 1

GROUP B

Mona 1 JC 4

Waterford 1 St Jago 0

GROUP E

Jonathan Grant 3 Trench Town 2

TODAY'S MATCHES

GROUP F

Wolmer's vs Jose Marti

GROUP G

Charlie Smith vs STATHS