Nicholai Holness (right) of Wolmer's Boys attempts to go clear of Norman Manley High's Kimani Henry during their ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup encounter at Constant Spring yesterday. Wolmer's won 2-1. - Peta-Gaye Clachar

Heroes Circle hopefuls, Wolmer's Boys, moved one step closer to repeating their 1994 triumph when they defeated Norman Manley High 2-1, while Kingston College (KC) and Bridgeport High battled to 2-2, as action started in the second round of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup at the Constant Spring Complex, yesterday.

The Wolmerians, who are drawn in Group One, defeated the boys from Maxfield Park courtesy of a goal on either side of half-time by Christopher Waugh, one of the top marksmen in the competition, and ace defender Ashani Walker. Norman Manley got their consolation goal from standout player, Patrick Scott.

Waugh, who increased his seasonal tally to 16, found the back of the net in the 44th minute to give his team the momentum heading into half-time. Wolmer's then increased their lead nine minutes after the breakthrough Walker before Scott gave Norman Manley some hope by scoring from the penalty spot in the 59th minute.

"As I said before, the team is in good nick and once we played true to form, we would get a positive result," said Wolmer's coach, Michael Francis, who had to watch the match from the stands due to a one-match ban imposed by ISSA for forfeiting their final preliminary-round match against JC two weeks ago. "It's now on to our second game, where the hope is we will keep on performing," he added.

In the KC-Bridgeport match-up, the scores reflected an evenly contested game but both teams had their chances to grab victory.

KC were the first team to get on the scoresheet when forward Mario Martin, after picking up a delightful through pass, outran two defenders, and slotted home with his left foot. This lead lasted for just a minute, however, as Bridgeport, capitalising on KC's inability to resettle quickly, scored through Adoah Nickle, who, showing fine individual skills, dribbled past two defenders, one of which he left on the ground, before slamming past KC custodian Mark Henry.

Top striker

The game then moved to the second stanza where eight minutes in, KC brought on their top striker, and the competition's third leading goalscorer, McKauley Tulloch, who immediately made an impression with his bustling moves and will to shoot. In the 59th minute, they regained the lead through a brilliant effort from national Under-20 representative Rohan Roye.

This, however, lasted for only 10 minutes as the boys from the Sunshine City, courtesy of their national Under-20 representative André Steele, levelled the score once more, with a powerful strike from an acute angle, which beat Henry at his near post.

"We played a good game and should have won," said KC coach Wayne Fairclough. "I thought we created more scoring opportunities, and come next match we have to make better use of them," he added.

"I thought we played a very good game but the referee was not up to scratch. But I guess everyone is human and we all make mistakes," said Bridgeport coach, Anthony Patrick.

All four teams will now turn their attention to Saturday's second set of matches where Wolmer's will face Bridgeport at 1:00 p.m., and Kingston College will go against Norman Manley at 3:00 p.m., at Constant Spring.

The competition will continue today with two Group Two matches, Tivoli versus Calabar at 1 p.m, and St Andrew Technical versus Excelsior at 3 p.m., also at Constant Spring.

Kingston College's Taval Whittaker (left) is being strongly challenged by Bridgeport High's Jamiel Hardware during their Manning Cup second-round clash at Constant Spring yesterday. The game ended 2-2 - Peta-Gaye Clachar