Unheralded Penwood High School was on the verge of creating a massive upset in the Inter-secondaary Schools’ Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup but was held to a 2-2 draw by Kingston College (KC).

It took a last-minute strike by KC to deny Penwood victory, but Penwood Head Coach Robert Garwood said things could have been different if ISSA did not deny them the use of their star defender Daniel Green.

“What happened is that our main defender (Green) had to sit out for a week and that made the defence line kind of change up. We had to put in some people who don’t really play that position,” Garwood revealed.

Green was Garwood’s mainstay in the backline during Maverley’s run to the semi-final of the KSAFA Under-17 League, and he also plays for the Super League team.

Seven of the current Penwood High team played on that Under-17 team and five of them played in the Super League squad.

According to Garwood, Green has been at the school for years but didn’t represent them for one reason or the other. Now in the 12th grade, he is eager to play.

“He has never played for the school and ISSA is wondering why he was in the school so long and never played for the school. So they said they had to add him; we can’t add him,” Garwood noted.

“So, we sent in his name and they have to add him. Hopefully, he will be in for Friday game,” he added.

Meanwhile, ISSA President Keith Wellington confirmed the situation to Our Today.

“I am not sure of the circumstances, but the general rule is that new students who are already 16 years old can only be added to our database by our clerical staff after all the relevant documents (birth certificate and admission documents) are submitted directly to ISSA. This applies to all sports and all schools,” Wellington explained.

“Not sure what happened with him. But maybe he didn’t know the rule and attempted to register the player late,” he added.

Penwood are drawn on Zone C alongside KC, Campion College, Cumberland High, José Martí, and Meadowbrook High.

Based on their performance against group favourites KC, Penwood could be making some noise in this group and could surprise with a top-three finish and even advance to the second round, which would be the first in the school’s history.