Robert Bailey and Rasbert Turner, Freelance Writers

St Jago High's Joel Scott (left) attempting to win the ball from Spanish Town High's Derron Dale in their Manning Cup encounter at the Spanish Town Prison Oval yesterday. - ricardo makyn

A HAT-TRICK from Rasheed Dwyer led Camperdown to a 5-0 thrashing of Kingston High and one step closer to a place in the second round of the ISSA/Pepsi/JN Manning Cup competition yesterday.

Eltham are on top in Group D with 13 points, followed by Campion (10) and Camperdown (nine).

Dwyer scored his goals in the 32nd, 53rd and 90th minutes. Camperdown were never in trouble against Kingston High, who are still searching for their first point of the season.

Camperdown, dominated possession and went ahead in the 32nd minute when Dwyer fired home from point-blank range. Paul Patterson scored his team's second goal with a beautiful header between two Kingston High defenders in the 43rd minute.

Red cards

Things got worse for Kingston High just before the half-time break when two of their players, Odean Watson and Theo Montaque, were shown red cards for fighting each other on the field. Camperdown came out firing in the second period and were rewarded in the 53rd minute when the powerful Dwyer netted home a well-placed strike to the left of goalkeeper Horace Tulloch. Substitute Michael Johnson also got his name on the scoresheet when he fired home a cross from teammate Sean Francis in the 84th minute. Dwyer completed his hat-trick in the 90th minute when he outsprinted two defenders and fired past a diving Tulloch. Barrington ' Cobra' Gaynor, coach of Camperdown said: "We didn't play well in the first half but Kingston High got two red cards which made it a bit easier for us. "I think we had lost our confidence after losing two games back to back and I now think that a lot more work needs to be done before our next game," he said. Meanwhile, goals from Derron Scott and Ranique Rowe carried Spanish Town High to a 2-0 victory over St. Jago in Group C.

Rapturous applause

The match, played at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, saw an evenly contested first half with St. Jago's goalkeeper, Ryan Harris, keeping his team in the game. After the break, Spanish Town started to play more purposefully, stringing passes together through the likes of Kenroy Wright, Damion Forrester, Rowe, Scott and company as they started to pressure the Jago defence. In the 52nd minute, the St. Jago keeper failed to collect a ball which fell into the path of Rowe who scored from a goalmouth melee making it 1-0.

Buoyed by the goal, Spanish Town continued to play good football and received rapturous applause when Scott's 25-yard shot slammed into the back of the St. Jago goal, making the final score 2-0.

Winning coach Cecil Thomas said his team played well. "I am thankful for the three points. Although there were lapses, the team managed to lift its game and came out victorious," Thomas said.

The result places Spanish Town second in Group C behind Norman Manley who are on 19 points - one more than the St. Catherine team.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

Group B: Spanish Town 2 St. Jago 0.

Group D: Campion 1 Tivoli 0,

Camperdown 5 Kingston High 0.

TODAY'S GAMES

Group A: STATHS vs. Dunoon Technical, St. Mary's College vs. Excelsior.

Group C: Innswood vs. Penwood, St. Catherine vs. Kingston Technical.