Butler happy with evolving Mona

MONA HIGH School stayed atop the standings in Group E of the ISSA Manning Cup after a 4-0 win over Holy Trinity at the Barbican field yesterday.

Robino Gordon netted all three goals for the winning team, with the other goal coming from Demarion Harris.

The win puts the Craig Butler-coached team on 15 points from five games and a step closer to qualifying for the second stage of the competition.

Butler insisted that after a blistering start, he thought it was a great opportunity to give some younger players a chance from the bench.

“We started our strongest team, but we gave the youngsters a chance to play, and we brought on youngster and first-former Daniel McLarty, who made his debut,” he boasted.

The result keeps Mona on top of Group E with maximum 15 points, three more than St Catherine, who defeated Norman Manley 2-0 to stay within touching distance.

“I am not too concerned about St Catherine. I am preparing the youngsters for opportunities that are available after high school football, and we are working on developing our players to that level,” said Butler.

Apart from winning all five matches to date, Mona have scored 24 goals and conceded just twice, and Butler is pleased with the progress he has seen.

“The team is progressing well. We have a lot of depth, and we can play several different ways. We play very attacking, very defensive, and we can keep the ball, and that is the evolution of what we are setting up for. So I am pretty happy with it,” he said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com

Yesterday’s results

STATHS 7 - 0 Tarrant

St Catherine 2 - 0 Norman Manley

Mona 4 - 0 Holy Trinity

Clan Carthy 1 - 0 Bridgeport

Vauxhall 2 - 1 St Jago

Wolmer’s 6 - 0 Ascott

Papine 1 - 0 Donald Quarrie

Cedar Grove vs Excelsior (no referee)

Today’s games

Greater Portmore vs Jonathan Grant at Royal Lakes at 3 p.m.

Jamaica College vs Spanish Town at Jamaica College at 3 p.m.

Cumberland vs Meadowbrook at Cumberland at 3 p.m.

Tivoli Gardens vs Kingston Tech at Tivoli at 3 p.m.