HYDEL HIGH School captain and standout player Ronaldo Barrett found the back of the net six times as he led his team to an 8-0 win over Ardenne High School in ISSA Manning Cup Zone A action yesterday at the Ardenne High School playfield.
The win was Hydel’s fourth of the season and second win in a row as they placed themselves in pole position to snag the remaining qualifying spot in the zone.
Barrett scored twice in the first half before a four-goal blitz stunned the Ardenne backline in the second half of play.
He was joined on the scoresheet by D’Sean Henry, who scored in the 48th minute and Sean-John Curchar, who completed the route in the dying minutes of the game.
The lopsided victory was especially important for last year’s beaten finalists as assistant coach Kirk Newman said the team is still licking their wounds from their 2-0 defeat at the hands of zone leaders Eltham High.
“It is very important,” he said.
“The Eltham game was very disappointing for us to take, so moving forward, we gave Ardenne some serious ball game today.”
He continued, “It was a good return to training, and it was very important for this game. We know we have the quality, so it is now to get these guys focused on the second round. That is the aim for us.”
Hydel sit second in Zone A on 12 points behind Eltham’s tally of 18. Eltham have already booked their second-round spot by virtue of their 2-0 win over Dunoon Park Technical High yesterday at Calabar High School playfield.
With the third-placed Dunoon now on six points, Hydel will need just a point from their last three games to advance to the second round.
They will rely on talisman Barrett, who flexed his goalscoring capabilities with a dominant performance against a goalless Ardenne High unit.
Barrett said he is ready to play his part in his team’s ambitions for success as they now turn their attention to their next outing: an away fixture against Clan Carthy on Tuesday.
“It is a really great feeling for me to come out here and get those six goals and lead the team as the captain,” he said.
“There was a struggle in the first half, kicking towards where there was a lot of water, but we played around it and it really turned out well.
“It is important, but we have to take it game by game. We’re not focused on Eltham right now because we just have to go back to the training ground and prepare for Clan Carthy, who we have next.”
Yesterday’s results
Ardenne High 0-8 Hydel High
Dunoon 0-2 Eltham High
Calabar 1-0 STATHS
Camperdown 0-0 Vauxhall High
HolyTrinity High 0-5 St George’s College
Excelsior High 15-0 Pembroke Hall High
Ascot High 0-5 Jamaica College