Calabar High whipped Haile Selassie High 3-0 in their ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup match at Red Hills Road and surged to the top of Zone D on Wednesday (September 11).

Jaheim Rankine opened the scoring for Calabar in the 10^th expertly placing his effort wide of goalkeeper Kevin Hibbert after brilliant build-up play that tore the Haile Selassie backline wide open.

Kevaughn Campbell doubled the advantage in the 34^{th with} the easiest of chances from close range tapping into an empty net after the backline broke down once again.

Sheldon Pusey then put the icing on the cake converting a 65^th penalty as the green and black-clad boys kick-started their campaign in style.

With Zone favourites St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) being held to a 0-0 draw away to Vauxhall High, Calabar with three points are early leaders in Zone D.

Calabar’s head coach Andrew Price was satisfied with his team’s dominant display.

“I thought we should have won by a wider margin. But it’s the first game, early day so we have to take it one day at a time. But we have to be a lot more clinical in front of goal,” he noted.

Losing coach, Linval Dixon of Haile Selassie was not pleased with his team’s performance and acknowledged there is a lot of work to do.

“We started flat then our choice of passes and we gave away the ball too easily. The backline is a fairly new one with some young players and we trying to put it together,” Dixon pointed out.

“It’s the first game and we have some work to do. The mistakes really cost us today, but I won’t take anything away from the boys as Calabar is not a bad team. They can be beaten and we will bounce back,” said Dixon, a former Reggae Boyz captain.

In the third group match, Camperdown High edged Kingston Technical 2-1 to be in second spot on goal difference.

Meanwhile, the Manning Cup continues on Thursday with six games with the Mona High versus Jonathan Grant High the marquee matchup in a Zone B top-of-the-table clash at Jonathan High School.

Both teams scored big first-round wins as Mona whipped Waterford High 7-0 and Jonathan Grant destroyed Gaynstead High 9-0.

Also in Zone B, Charlie Smith fresh from their 4-0 win over Tarrant High, will be hunting their second win when they travel to Waterford High while bottom teams Gaynstead tackle Tarrant High at Papine High School ground.

In Zone C, leaders Campion College should notch their second win when they play Jose Marti High as both teams are coming off first-round wins.

There will also be two games in Zone E as Edith Dalton James host Tivoli Gardens and St Jago High travel to St Mary’s College.