Rusea’s begin with Little London thumping

Eleven-time champions Rusea’s High School issued an early warning to their Zone B rivals yesterday, crushing Little London High School 8-0 at the Little London playing field to open their ISSA daCosta Cup campaign in emphatic fashion.

Rusea’s wasted little time asserting their dominance, racing into a commanding lead before half-time and continuing the onslaught after the break to secure all three points. An own goal from Little London’s Carletto Cole opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Maliek Headed, Michael Fogah, Tyrick Allison, Omarion Jemmison and Xavier Bourne joined the rout.

Headed doubled Rusea’s advantage in the eighth minute. Fogah then struck twice in quick succession in the 20th and 22nd minutes, while Allison added another in the 40th minute.

Jemmison continued the scoring spree with second-half goals in the 48th and 52nd minutes before Bourne put the finishing touches on the victory with a well-taken effort in the 62nd minute.

The result leaves the 11-time champions atop Zone B on three points, while Little London remain at the foot of the standings without a point.

Rusea’s coach Giovanni Parkins said that while the team achieved many of its objectives in the opening match, there was still room for improvement.

“Like all things in life, we have to start it with the first thing. Today, we saw most of what we would have wanted to see. However, it’s still far from perfection, but we are getting there slowly but surely,” said Parkins.

“I think transition is one of the most important things that we need to work on. Finishing is also something we will be working on,” added Parkins.

Meanwhile, Little London coach Mark Taylor said his team struggled tactically against a high-quality opponent and failed to adjust effectively to Rusea’s approach.

“I knew it would have been a tough game going up against probably the best team in the group, a possible contender. I was hoping to contain them for the most part. We worked on that this week, but I guess it didn’t work out as planned,” said Taylor.

“I know that we are a very tactical team, and, tactically, we didn’t match up to them because they did a few things that we didn’t adjust to. In the second half, we made a few changes and created numerous chances to get back in the game, but it just didn’t work out,” added Taylor.

In another match, Munro began their campaign on a winning note, defeating Lacovia High 4-1.

Brown’s Town High overwhelmed newcomers Walkerswood Academy 20-0 to set the tone early in the competition.

The ISSA daCosta Cup resumes on Tuesday.

Yesterday’s results

Spot Valley 2-2 Cambridge

Green Pond 0-4 Irwin

MUschett 0-3 Herbert Morrison

Walkerswood Academy 0-20 Brown’s Town

Cedric Titus 0-2 Ferncourt

Belair 0-1 Black River

Lacovia 1-4 Munro

Knox College 1-1 Edwin Allen

Fair Prospect 1-3 Robert Lightbourne