Kingston College (KC) defeated first-time finalists St Catherine High School 3-1 in a thrilling ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup final at the National Stadium in Kingston on Friday, securing the urban area's biggest schoolboy football prize just five months before the institution's centenary.
KC, established in 1925, now boasts 17 Manning Cup titles, having first won in 1949. They rank as the third most successful team in the competition’s history, behind Jamaica College (31 titles) and St George’s College (22 titles).
Fifteen-year-old Jaeshawn Edwards opened the scoring for KC in the 36th minute, nodding home from a corner kick at the far post, with Demario Dailey (45+1 minute) and Deshawn Byfield (54th minute) adding to the tally. An own goal by Byfield in the 61st minute provided St Catherine High with a consolation.
The victory was a landmark achievement for KC’s technical director and head coach, Vassel Reynolds, who became only the fourth coach to secure both the rural-area daCosta Cup and the urban-area Manning Cup titles. Reynolds guided Rusea’s High to the daCosta Cup title in 2017 during his first year in charge after leaving a successful programme at Wolmer's Boys at the end of the 2016 season. The Manning Cup triumph with KC came in his second season at the helm.
“It is great to be among Frank Brown and Jackie Walters as coaches who have won both the daCosta Cup and Manning Cup,” Reynolds said. “This one is special. We’re not just playing for ourselves; we’re playing for generations of KC men and the rich legacy they’ve built.”
Friday’s victory marked KC’s third Manning Cup title since 2018. That year, they staged a dramatic comeback to defeat St George’s College 3-2, ending a 32-year title drought. KC’s most recent triumph before Friday came on January 22, 2022, when they edged defending champions Jamaica College 5-4 in sudden death penalties in a COVID-delayed season. The season had started in November 2021, rather than the usual September, due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the loss, St Catherine High’s assistant coach, Donovan Lofters, commended his team’s effort: "It means a lot to us... we are in the party, as I said, because we are here at the end, so there is nothing for us to be ashamed of. We showed some character after going down 3-0, and we came back and fought. It's our first time in the final, and some of the guys were a bit nervous, but I think we did well," he said.
The defeat marked the fourth Manning Cup final loss for St Catherine’s head coach, Anthony Patrick.
Video courtesy of SportsMax TV. Photos by Marlon Reid.
