Charlie Smith march into quarters with St Catherine drubbing

FORMER CHAMPIONS Charlie Smith booked their place in the quarter-finals of this year’s ISSA/WATA Manning Cup competition with an easy 4–1 victory over St Catherine High School in Group Three at Winchester Park yesterday.

Charlie Smith were led to victory, courtesy of a hat-trick from striker Anthony Bryan, who scored in the 14th, 45th, and 82nd minutes. Neo Drummond was also on the scoresheet for Charlie Smith when he netted in the 26th. St Catherine’s Dwight Gentles scored the consolation goal for his team in the 49th minute.

St Catherine ended the game with 10 men after defender Neiser Perez was sent off in the 69th minute.

The victory moved Charlie Smith, who are unbeaten so far in the second round, to six points with one game remaining. Vauxhall are second in the group with four points, followed by St Catherine on one and St George’s College on zero. The Eugene Williams-coached Charlie Smith also made it to the quarter-finals of last year’s competition.

Elated and proud

Williams said he was elated with his team’s performance because they dominated the match from the opening whistle by putting their opponents under a lot of pressure.

“I am very elated and proud of my players because this is one of the best performances from season,” said Williams.

“It wasn’t an easy victory for us but today was a day that they really put in the work and it paid off for us because, in the end, we scored four goals and that was excellent from us.”

Williams, whose team will face Vauxhall in their final game of the round, noted that this victory will give his team a lot of confidence moving forward in the competition.

“This is a big morale booster for us because this win will give the team a lot of confidence, and they know that they have within them to reach the final of the competition and win it, and that is what we are aiming for this season,” he said.

Theo Brown, assistant coach of St Catherine, was disheartened by his team’s performance.

“It was a very disappointing performance because I have never seen the team play this way before. We were not winning any first balls or second balls and so, overall, it is very disappointing for us,” he said.

Charlie Smith dominated the early exchanges and were rewarded when Bryan arrived at the near post to toe-poke the ball into the back of the net past the goalkeeper. Drummond doubled Charlie Smith’s lead with a powerful point-blank shot that went right through the hands of the goalkeeper.

Bryan netted his team’s third goal on the stroke of half-time when he collected a pass out of midfield, outsprinted two defenders, and slotted home from close range to give his team a 3–0 lead at the break.

Gentles gave his team a glimmer of hope when he reduced the deficit to 3–1 in the 49th minute with a brilliant 25-yard free kick. However, Bryan completed his hat-trick with a curling effort against the run of play to seal victory for his team.