We are getting there - XLCR coach pleased with team's progress

Daniel Riley, coach of Excelsior High School's Manning Cup team, believes that his outfit is steadily building momentum after recording their third straight victory in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup football competition yesterday.

Excelsior, playing on their school field, dismissed Haile Selassie High School 3-1 and has now climbed to second place in Group E, with nine points, behind leaders St Catherine High, who is also on nine but has a seven-goal difference lead.

"We are improving with each performance, getting to where we would like to be, and there is still a lot of work to be done. Physically, we are there. It is just for us to continue to stay in the game, mentally," Riley said.

Riley's boys were dominant taking the lead in the second minute of the game through a strike from Demorney Hutchinson. And when they doubled the lead in the 30th minute through Chad McKan , Haile Selassie lost all zeal to continue playing.

 

SENSE OF HOPE

 

An error from Tajhay Williams in the 42nd minute restored a sense of hope for the boys from Payneland, but Rohan Beadle secured the victory for Excelsior when he fired home with 10 minutes left in the contest.

"We came out here to play a type of football where we pass the ball around and see if we get behind the defenders, and we did that successfully," Riley said. "We got the two early goals. We dropped the tempo after that, but all said and done, we got the three points, and that is what is important."

Coach of Haile Selassie High Jermaine Miller is looking to put the defeat behind him as quickly as possible.

"We got off to a very poor start. Conceding a goal in the second minute of the game would always push us back against who is putting down the football. It was a difficult day for us, and we just have to move on," Miller said.

Excelsior lost their first game of the season 2-0 to St Catherine.

STATHS 1 - 1 Cumberland

Papine 0 - 1 St George's College

Clan Carthy 0 - 1 Calabar

Kingston College 11 - 0 Ardenne

Dunoon 0 - 2 Mona High

St Jago 1 - 0 Innswood

Denham Town 1 - 0 Bridgeport

Greater Portmore 3 - 0 Tivoli

Penwood 0 - 7 St Catherine

Excelsior 3 - 1 Haile Selassie

Oberlin 0 - 0 St Mary's College

Jamaica College 3 - 0 Campion College

Hydel 6 - 0 Kingston High

 

Today's Games:

 

Camperdown v Charlie Smith

Norman Manley v Meadowbrook

Eltham v Jonathan Grant

Pembroke Hall High v Wolmer's Boys

Holy Trinity v Jose Marti

Edith Dalton v Waterford