KINGSTON College on POOR! chance at grabbing a win in the group of death (group B) of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Manning Cup second round. Leading defending champions St George’s College by three clear goals in the 57th minute, the Purples, quite miraculously allowed the Georgians to score four goals and take all three points away from them.

Kingston College started the game the more determined and in the 24th minute, a Jorginho James free kick from 30 yards out was enough to make their point clear. That was enough going into the half-time break, with no one expecting what would have happened after the game resumed.

The introduction of inspirational captain Deron Williams at the start of the second half was enough to inspire the defending champions into life. The inspiration did not take effect before Kingston College put two more goals past the St George’s custodian as Romario Williams and Taval Whittaker exploited holes in the Light Blues’ defence.

At this point even the faithful fans of the defending champions had given up hope. In fact, everyone except the players had given up hope. Luckily for St George’s in football, once the players have not given up you still have a chance. That truism was utterly vilified as the Georgian’s second substitute, Jhovon Francis, sneaked past a still celebrating KC defence to pull one back immediately after Whittaker’s third.

Before you knew it, Kendon Anderson acrobatically latched on to a brilliant build up from his fellow attackers to make it 3-2. It was 3-3 when Romario Jones headed home from close range.

Rohan Royes then provided the knife to the heart of KC as he masterfully headed home in the final minutes of the game to complete the stunning comeback.

Royes, who KC fans will remember fondly after he scored a late winner for them against archrivals Calabar High at this stage of the competition three years ago, rose unmarked to bite the hand that once fed him. His exuberant celebrations afterwards only served to irritate the fans in the crowd.

KC, whose players suffered from cramps throughout the entire game, were dealt an even greater blow near the end when their top defender, James, saw red after a second bookable offence.

In the earlier group game, Jamaica College ran out 2-0 winners over Bridgeport High.

In the group A encounters on Friday, Waterford was the only team to register a win after they beat Charlie Smith 1-0. The other game in the group Eltham and St Andrew Technical played to a tame 0-0 draw.