Kingston College, Excelsior and St Jago High yesterday made convincing starts to their 2009 ISSA Pepsi Digicel Manning Cup campaigns with 3-0 wins over Ardenne, Tarrant and José Marti, respectively.

Kingston College brushed aside the challenge of Ardenne on goals from Kemal Afflick (61st), Mario Martin (79th) and Prince Samuels (90th), while Excelsior picked up their first three points courtesy of a double from forward Nico Brett (68th, 78th) and a 90th-minute strike from Lyden Reid.

St Jago got their victory through a brace from forward Shawn Smikle, while Machel Baker got the other goal.

Goalless clashes

Elsewhere, Cumberland got the better of Trench Town 3-2, Norman Manley clipped Haile Selassie 1-0, while the Calabar-Campion College and Charlie Smith-Ascot clashes ended goalless.

The win moved KC, St Jago and Norman Manley to the top of Group B with maximum three points. Excelsior and Cumberland lead Group C, also with three points.

At Mountain View Avenue, Excelsior looked out of sorts in the first half and were kept at bay by good goalkeeping from Tarrant custodian, Rodney Bradley. But come the second half, the yellow-and-green standard-bearers' game improved and thanks to Brett, who was clearly the best player on the pitch, they were able to pull away from their Molynes Road counterparts. Reid made the game safe in the 90th minute.

"It's a good start. We lost a lot of players from last year's team, including our captain and leading goalscorer and it pushed us back. But the boys rallied today and gave a good account of themselves," said Excelsior coach, Leebert Halliman, whose team is the defending Walker Cup knockout champions.

The competition continues today with nine matches across groups A, D and E.

Today's matches

Group A: Jamaica College vs Penwood, Waterford vs Donald Quarrie, Edith Dalton James vs Pembroke Hall

Group D: Wolmer's vs Clan Carthy, Papine vs STATHS, Meadowbrook vs Camperdown

Group E:- Holy Trinity vs Tivoli, St Catherine vs St Andrew College, Bridgeport vs Kingston High

(Home teams named first)

Yesterday's results

Excelsior 3 Tarrant 0

KC 3 Ardenne 0

St Jago 3 Jose Marti 0

Cumberland 3 Trench Town 2

Norman Manley 1 Haile Selassie 0

Calabar 0 Campion 0

Charlie Smith 0 Ascot 0