McKaully Tulloch (left) of St George's College is being hounded by Excelsior defender Shain Ferron, during their ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup semi-final clash at the Harbour View stadium yesterday. St George's won 3-0 to advance to the final. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
It will be a St George's College-Bridgeport High ISSA/ Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup final next Saturday.
Both schools recorded contrasting semi-final wins at the Harbour View Mini Stadium yesterday.
Led by a hat-trick from national Under-20 striker McKaully Tulloch, defending champions St George's beat Excelsior 3-0, while Bridgeport, thanks to a 14th-minute-strike from Kenrick Preston, stopped St Andrew Technical (STATHS) 1-0.
In the second game of what was a double-header, Tulloch first netted five minutes from the break to give St George's a 1-0 half-time lead, before returning in the second half to complete the rout in the 51st and the 90th minutes.
It was the second time in as many games that St George's were defeating Excelsior, having done so in the quarter-finals of the Walker Cup KO and, according to coach 'Bertis' Bell, he was looking towards the challenge of Bridgeport.
penalties
St George's lost 5-4 on penalties to Jamaica College in the Walker Cup final.
"We will enjoy the victory until Monday, when we start preparing for Bridgeport," said Bell, who was the man in charge last season when the boys from North Street dethroned Jamaica College.
"I am still disappointed having lost the Walker Cup and the hope is that we will make amends in the Manning final.
"These kids are a good set of players, and I am lucky to be part of the unit," he added.
Excelsior coach, Lebert Halliman, in the meanwhile, gave St George's credit.
"It was our toughest game of the season. St George's are a much more senior and experienced team to ours, and today they proved that they are better. Congrats to them," said Halliman.
The first game saw STATHS dominating for the most part, but in the end it was Preston's strike that made the difference.
"The team played an excellent game from start to finish," said Bridgeport captain, Darren Mattocks who, along with his teammates, had to play without their coach, Anthony Patrick, on the bench for the last 25 minutes.
Patrick was ejected for ungentle-manly conduct.
"The ejection of our coach didn't affect the team. He always tells us that with or without him we will have to play games and win," Mattocks added.
STATHS coach Keith Nicholls, whose charges were losing at this stage for the second year in a row, said the loss was a bitter pill to swallow.
"I feel it for most of the senior players, especially our goalkeeper Diego Haughton, who have been with us for the past five seasons, and would have played on three quality teams over the past three," said Nicholls.