CATHERINE HALL, St James — Lennon High held defending champions Clarendon College to a dour 1-1 draw at Montego Bay Sports Complex as the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition got under way yesterday.

Richard King gave Clarendon College the lead in the fourth minute when he converted from the penalty spot, but Alphonso Johnson levelled for Lennon High in the 13th minute.

The display from the champions was a far cry from the marauding team that won the competition in December, beating Cornwall College 2-1, despite playing with 10 men from the 14th minute after goalkeeper Tafari Bennett was sent off.

The draw snapped Clarendon College’s 16-game win streak in the daCosta Cup. They went unbeaten all of the 2018 campaign, and yesterday’s result saw them dropping points in Zone H for the first time since 2016, when they were beaten 0-2 by Lennon.

Clarendon College’s coach Lenworth Hyde said that, while he was satisfied with the way his team played, he was not happy with the scoreline.

“We had too many stoppages with the water breaks and the Lennon players stopping the game and that prevented us from playing our flowing style of football,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Byjeon Thomas, Lennon High’s coach, was happy to have taken a point away from the game after two big losses last year.

“I think we played well, we got a point from what is their home game so that is good for us,” he said. “They will come to us for the second round and we will be prepared.”

The game had little for the fans to cheer about with frequent breaks in the sweltering afternoon sun, but Clarendon College jumped out to a quick lead after Omar Bent was taken down in the box. King stepped up to bury the resulting penalty kick.

Lennon drew level nine minutes later when the tricky Johnson got away down the left side, cut inside close to the 18-yard area, and fired a low shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Prince-Daniel Smith.

Lennon High should have taken the lead in the 32nd minute when Jerome Williams had a clear run at the Clarendon College goal, but he shot tamely into the hands of the goalkeeper.

Very few scoring chances were created in the second half, despite a number of changes by both teams.

In the late game, Irwin High led Cornwall College 1-0 at half -time, while in the Manning Cup encounter defending champions Kingston College defeated former champions Excelsior High 4-0 through a brace from Dwayne Atkinson in the 73rd and 75th minutes to add to first-half goals by Ronaldo Robinson in the 30th minutes and Sa-jar Blair in the 36th minute.