1 week ago
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An overhead kick from Nickane Brown in the dying moments of the game sparked a dramatic end as Cornwall College were crowned the first champions of the first Montego Bay United FC Invitational high school football competition when they clipped Frome Technical High 2-1 in the finals.
The preseason tournament, held at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, ended at 10 p.m. with the energetic patrons cheering on the teams they came to support.
In the semi-finals, Zone One winners Cornwall cruised into the final with a 2-0 victory over Irwin High.
Zone Two winners Frome High defeated Maldon High 1-0 in their nail-biting semi-final game.
Moments after kick-off in the 40-minute final, Cornwall took the lead with a brilliant strike, courtesy of Carlondo Morris in the third minute. A few minutes later, Frome rallied back when Wayne Mullings levelled in the sixth minute.
Conceding a goal did not sit well with Cornwall and they came out a more determined team in the second half. They fought hard and began to dominate the proceedings. Their efforts paid off minutes before stoppage time, when Brown scored the brilliant winner from a corner to seal the deal.
Winning coach Hector Wright said preseason competitions helped to highlight the team’s rediness for the new season.
“This (the competition) is really good, especially for preseason. It can be a part of their preparation going into the season,” Wright told The Gleaner.
Wright said winning the competition gave them a good feeling.
“The work we have been putting in from the start of our preseason has been tough. The players were complaining, but they are seeing the results now. We started early, so hopefully we can use this as a stepping stone going into the daCosta Cup season,” he added.
The captain of Cornwall College, Deshaun Talbert, said the win is a promising start ahead of the upcoming schoolboy season.
“Winning is always a great feeling, especially in our home town. We didn’t want to lose in our community, so we went out there and put our best forward to come out victorious,” said Talbert.
Despite losing, Cleighton Stephens, the coach of Frome, said he has seen more positives than negatives in the competition.
“I see where my team came out and they showed character today. We really needed the million dollars, but that’s how football is at times. Overall, it was a good preseason tournament, “said Stephens.
“We fought until the last minute, but, you know, some mistakes were made and because of that we paid for it,” he added.
The winning team pocketed a $1,000,000 cheque. Six schools – Cornwall College, Irwin High, Herbert Morrison Technical High, Frome Technical High, Maldon High and St James High - competed in the inaugural invitational high school football competition.
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