Holy Trinity defender Omario Cole is unalbe to get his had out of the way in time after Waterford High midfielder Christopher Holness tries to clip the ball past him. Holy Trinity High defeated Waterford High 3-1 in the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup on Monday.
Holy Trinity High exacted sweet revenge on Waterford High when they beat them 3-1 in their first round return leg game in the ISSA/FLOW Manning Cup competition at the Santos Field on Monday.
In what can be easily described as a ‘snooze fest’ for at least the first 65 minutes, the game was less exciting than watching paint dry. Neither team was able to put together some decent passes but instead the game was littered with misplaced or over hit passes and poor controls on a dry and bumpy pitch.
But the game sprung to life shortly after the introduction of Phillon Lawrence by Holy Trinity coach, Devon Anderson.
Jabari Howell in midfield and Shai Smith up front had been working tirelessly for Holy Trinity and the home team was finally able to break down the stubborn Waterford defense when Howell found Smith who produced a magnificent defence splitting pass to pick out Lawrence. The substitute produced a deft first touch which took him away from centre half, Richard Coates who he sent the wrong way. Lawrence’s second touch was a powerful left footed effort that flew into the roof of the net past a hapless Tafari Chambers who could do nothing about the shot.
Another second half substitute, Lloyd Reynolds almost made it 2-0 but watched in agony as his stunning right footed drive from 30 yards out crashed against the crossbar and rebounded into play.
With the clock winding down and the game slipping away, Waterford coach went for broke, sending Coates further up field in an effort to put pressure on the Holy Trinity back line. The move paid dividends seven minutes from time when Coates scored directly from a corner kick after the experienced Antonio Millington somehow misjudged the flight of the ball which landed in the goal, making the score 1-1.
But the smiles were soon wiped off the face of the visiting spectators as another goal keeping error gifted Holy Trinity the lead once more. Shemar Farmer swung in a cross which Chambers, under pressure from his own defender, pushed into his own goal less than sixty seconds after his team had drawn level.
The hard working Smith then deservedly got his goal in the third minute of added time. He produced an exquisite side footed volley finish at the back post, to add gloss to the final score.
“Within the first forty five minutes, if you don’t crunch us you are in for a dog fight,” explained Anderson. “We knew we had it in us in order to finish the game strong and that is what we did,” and elated Anderson added.
“(Shai Smith) is the man, so far this season he has been in and out…he hasn’t come up trumps yet, I don’t know if he is waiting for the second round or what, but he did a lot of work and finished off a wonderful chance in the dying stages. We are grateful for the win,” Anderson said of his main striker.
“We were there, the game was even, we conceded. We scored and then conceded immediately after and that took all the wind out of them and the momentum from the team. And as a result of that, the spirit and the confidence, I think went down. We made three mistakes and paid for it dearly,” said a deflated Jermaine Thomas, head coach of Waterford High.
Waterford High had edged the first contest between the two teams by 1-0 a few weeks ago. Holy Trinity remains hot on the heals of Group leaders Charlie Smith High, who they will meeet again in this round of the competition.
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