DEFENDING champions Jamaica College maintained their perfect start in Group G of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/LIME Manning Cup football competition when they blanked St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) 3-0 at Old Hope Road yesterday.

Jamaica College remain at the top of the group on 18 points and have already secured their spot in the second round. Norman Manley High remain in second place, on 10 points, after they played out a 3-3 stalemate with Jonathan Grant High who are in fourth place on seven points.

The hosts raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half when Sheldon McKoy’s header came back off the upright and was slotted home by an unmarked Ronaldo Brown in the 24th minute. McKoy then made good in the 45th minute when he fired home from inside the 18-yard area on a well-weighted pass from Allando Brown.

Jamaica College continued their dominance in the second half as STATHS were left completely out of the game. The lead was eventually extended in the 59th minute when Allando Brown outjumped defenders at the back post to head pass Owen Dumetz in goal for the Spanish Town Road-based school. Substitute Nacquain Brown could have sent JC further ahead, but his shot on goal was parried by Dumetz, who was resolute in ensuring that his team was not embarrassed.

Winning coach Miguel Coley applauded his team for an impeccable performance.

“I think we killed the game off with our passing, especially after we scored, we continued to pass the ball because all we want to do is accumulate the points.

Meanwhile, Keith Nichol lamented impact of suspected cases of chikungunya virus on members of the team which he said left him short of options.

“I am a bit disappointed in a sense, because I had to use a different team due to players being out with the chik-V. We shut down JC in the first game, but the two full-backs that we used today (yesterday) could not shut them down. Hence we were down two goals early and did not get back into the game,” he told the Jamaica Observer.