Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter

WITH FIVE games left in the opening round of the ISSA/Pepsi/JN Manning Cup, Spanish Town, St. Jago, Camperdown and Campion will be making their last dashes toward the second-round tape.

For those teams that started slowly, the noose of failing to qualify for the second round is slowly getting tighter.

In Group B, St. Jago will be up against it when they host red-hot Spanish Town who have looked dangerous since the second-leg games have begun.

In the other game of the group, Edith Dalton-James have to go to Mona to chase points they have found hard to come by. The good thing for them is that Mona can't be beaming with confidence after some of their results.

Donald Quarrie, the other team in the group, will have a day off because they were scheduled to play against Trench Town, who pulled out of the competition before it started.

In Group D, where Eltham reigns supreme, Camperdown will be trying to play catch-up when they play away to Kingston High.

Camperdown, with the quality they have displayed, are expected to have an easy time against the cellar dwellers.

From that group, Campion, who have had some good results but are yet to find their way to the top of the table and could be out of the second round if they can't find some wins, will have to make their way past Tivoli in front of their home fans.

Tivoli have taken some serious blows since the start of the competition and if Campion can get their act together, the West Kingston side might be in for some more.

Meadowbrook have a break today with their scheduled opponents Ascot also having pulled out of the tournament.

All games begin at 3:30p.m.

In the only game played yesterday, defending champs Calabar took over sole leadership of Group E when they hosted Oberlin High and delivered a sound 8-0 whipping to the newcomers.