SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Andrew Edwards, the Manchester High head coach, conceded he got his tactics wrong as they were crushed 0-4 by ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup favourites Clarendon College on Saturday.

Midfield lynchpin Lamar Walker opened for former champions Clarendon near the end of the first half of the quarter-final-round Group Two clash, at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex.

Roderick Granville notched another goal early in the second half, followed by late strikes from Nicque Daley and substitute Andre Nicholson.

The loss was a hammer blow for Manchester High, who are yet to win a schoolboy football title at the Under-19 level.

“I think we got our tactics wrong, and once we fell behind it was always going to be difficult to get the confidence level up,” Edwards said after the match.

Edwards said his team was undone by the decision to change from their usual high-pressing, high-tempo style — a move that gave the slick-passing Clarendon outfit too much space.

“I think we gave the Clarendon team far too much respect in the first period of the game, and allowed them to really get comfortable and to keep possession.

“[It was] one of the risks we knew we were taking when we decided we were going to allow them to play a bit at the… because it takes a lot of concentration [to play that way]. For a team like us that was a departure from our normal way of playing in terms of being aggressive and being up in the face of the other team,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Manchester’s tribulations went from bad to worse when they were left to complete the closing minutes with a player short, after they had exhausted their substitutions and goalkeeper Xavian Johnson was forced off through injury.

Still, Edwards believes things could have been different had they exercised greater composure throughout the 90 minutes.

“It was a real slip in concentration and indecisiveness in our defensive unit that led to [conceding] the first goal. I think the weight of expectation really bore down on the team. And then of course, when you expect to get some calls and don’t get them it compounds the situation on a mental level.

“At 0-2 down we got a really good one-on-one chance and I think if we had taken that chance the complexion of the game would have changed totally. Then, we had to finish the game with 10 players and it was just a little bit too much for us,” the former National Under-17 coach told the Observer.

With an outside chance of advancing to the daCosta Cup semis still on the cards, plus the realistic prospect of qualifying for the Champions Cup, Edwards wants to end the quarter-final round on a high versus Old Harbour High tomorrow.

“We have a responsibility to give ourselves a fighting chance, so we have to go into that game against Old Harbour playing as though we still have a chance,” he urged.

— Sanjay Myers