DENHAM Town took full control of Group C of the ISSA/LIME Manning Cup football competition after edging Innswood 1-0 in a top-of-the-table clash at the Edward Seaga Sport Complex yesterday.

Searching for solutions to unlock a fairly consistent Innswood defence, Denham Town’s coach Earl Bennett introduced Shavon Richards in the 65th minute to replace Tajay Cunningham. The move immediately paid rich dividends as within five minutes the substitute scored to lessen the anxiety and secure the narrow but important victory.

The win pushed Denham Town’s tally up to 13 points from five matches after starting the day on 10 points to Innswood’s nine.

Bennett said that, though playing with a weakened team, he was satisfied with the performance, and that his team should have scored at least five goals.

“But I am not complaining. We won the game and that was our main objective to stay ahead of the pack and try to make it into the second round,” he said.

Christopher Russell of Innswood praised his players for doing their best. “We have much better players to improve our position as the season deepens and with another five matches still to be played with only four points adrift, all is not lost,” he said.

— Hurbun Williams