Jamaica College came from two goals down to beat 10-man Charlie Smith High 4-2 yesterday and take pole position in Group H in the second round of the ISSA/LIME Manning Cup competition.

Jamaica College captain Junior Flemmings sparked the fightback with accomplished strikes in the 59th and 84th minutes in soggy underfoot conditions at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.

His teammates Kevin Blackwood (61st) and Sheldon McKoy (88th) got the other goals to complete a sterling second half display.

Kimani Arbouine (15th minute) and Bebeto McDonald (38th) had put ‘Charlie’ into a 2-0 first-half lead.

JC’s coach Miguel Coley said his team “showed fight” after “missing chances” throughout the match. His opposite Jerome Waite complained about the officiating, while conceding that “lack of concentration” in the defence undermined his team.

JC’s coach Miguel Coley said his team “showed fight” after “missing chances” throughout the match. His opposite Jerome Waite complained about the officiating, while conceding that “lack of concentration” in the defence undermined his team.

The victory put JC on maximum six points from two games, the same as Hydel High, but the former have the edge based on a superior goal difference.

The other teams in the group — Kingston College and ‘Charlie’ — are both without a point and have no chance of advancing to the semi-finals.

In the early match at the venue, Hydel, through goals from Stephen Barnett (17th minute) and Kurt Thomas (45th) clipped Kingston College 2-1.

Kingston College captain Allan Morgan had levelled the match in the first half with a 33rd minute goal. KC lost the chance to snatch a point from the penalty kick miss on or about the hour mark. As rain poured in the second half, Rasheed Dawkins hit his effort tamely and directly at Hydel’s goalkeeper Nicholas Clarke, who obliged with a simple save.

Only the winners of each of the four second round groups qualify for the semi-finals.

The final set of games in Group H will be played on Friday at the Constant Spring field. Most attention will be on the 3:00 pm clash between Hydel and Jamaica College. The latter only needs a draw to advance, while Hydel need to win.

The out-of-contention pair of KC and Charlie Smith will meet at 1:00 pm. In yesterday’s feature game, the Arnett Gardens-based team took the lead when Arbouine controlled a cross from McDonald to the corner of the six-yard box and feinted left to deceive an onrushing defender before lashing home a right footer.

McDonald got on the score sheet seven minutes before the half-time break after booting into the roof of the net from inside the 18-yard box.

Blackwood brought the scores level two minutes later when he bundled home from a melee. The Old Hope Road-located JC, who were booted from the Walker Cup Knockout competition recently, battled like their lives depended on it and bombarded Charlie Smith’s defence with a series of attacks.

The ‘Charlie’ resistance suffered a huge blow when Shaquille Dyer was red-carded after a second bookable offence in the 80th minute. Four minutes later, Flemmings flicked an overhead effort into the goal to complete the comeback.

Charlie Smith were imploding defensively, and for good measure McKoy banged in the final nail two minutes before the end to complete the scoring.

Matches on today will see Innswood High (three points) and Excelsior High (three) battling at 1:00 pm, and Denham Town High (zero point) and Ascot High (zero) squaring off at 3:00 pm, also at Constant Spring.