Goalkeeping heroics give Munro St Elizabeth derby

Munro College goalkeeper Orville Ferguson produced a string of acrobatic saves to deny arch-rivals and defending champions STETHS an equaliser as Munro secured a 2-1 victory in their ISSA daCosta Cup second-round encounter at Munro yesterday.

The St Elizabeth derby saw Munro take the lead in the 26th minute when Nikosi Foncette converted from the penalty spot. Kajaye Williams doubled the advantage five minutes later as the hosts seized control of the contest.

STETHS responded after the break, with Shavarie Walker finding the net in the 49th minute to set up a tense finish.

According to Ferguson, the fierce rivalry between the teams provided extra motivation to come away with all three points.

“My coach always tells me fi use negativity to push me forward, don’t let it break me,” he said.

“In the second half, I gave away a goal. I called my teammates and told them I am going to pull through and lift my head in the game and win us this game.”

“I feel very good about the victory. My teammates played good and showed a lot of fight today,” he said.

Munro coach Everdean Scarlett also welcomed the victory, describing it as a satisfying result against their long-standing rivals.

“It is always a good feeling to get three points against your rival. We had some things that we took personally playing against STETHS. I have to give God thanks for the win and that we could make the fans of Munro happy this evening,” said Scarlett.

“It has been a long history and again, I am happy we secured the win,” he added.

Meanwhile, STETHS coach Omar ‘Rambo’ Wedderburn admitted that his team lacked discipline in the early stages of the match, but praised his players for their second-half response.

“We weren’t disciplined enough for the first five minutes. However, second half, we really came out and we fought all the way. Unfortunately, we only got one goal, but that wasn’t enough,” said Wedderburn.

“We still have games to play and we will still go all the way. As I can see, the celebration here from Munro, good luck to them at this celebration; but we have a season to focus on, we have a competition and a title to look after,” he added.

In one of the round’s more entertaining contests, Foncette opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 26th minute to give the seven-time champions the lead.

Williams struck five minutes later, dribbling past defenders before firing home to double Munro’s advantage and send the home supporters into a frenzy.

STETHS came roaring back after the restart, with Walker powering the ball over Ferguson’s head in the 49th minute to reduce the deficit.

The defending champions pressed relentlessly for an equaliser, but Ferguson answered every challenge with a series of impressive saves to preserve Munro’s lead and secure the victory.

Yesterday’s games

St. James 0-2 Rusea’s

Ocho Rios 2-0 Dinthill

Munro 2- 1 STETHS

Yallahs 0- 3 Lacovia

Knox 1- 2 Denbigh

McGrath 7-0 Titchfield

Morant Bay 1-1 B.B. Coke

Manchester 0-1 Clarendon

William Knibb 2-1 Cornwall

Central 0-0 Glenmuir