Defending champs booted
STATHS, JC make Manning Cup final
Published:Wednesday | November 23, 2022 | 12:17 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
JAMAICA COLLEGE (JC) will have another chance to add to their legacy of schoolboy football excellence after fighting to their third straight ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup final, dispatching Mona High 2-1 in yesterday’s semifinal at the National Stadium.
Donhue Mitchell gave Mona the lead in the sixth minute from the penalty spot before Tarick Ximines equalised in the 30th minute and Kevaughn Wilson got the game winner in the 56th from the penalty spot, ending Mona’s deepest run in schoolboy football history.
With the whispers in the buildup that this brash Mona team would give Jamaica College a football education, head coach Davion Ferguson said the irony was that it was his opponents who learnt why his team has been consistently good at this level.
“Pedigree at this stage of the competition is always key. I was told that Jamaica College would be given a lesson. I think we got that. But at the end of the day, we came out learning the most from this game and we are now in the finals,” Ferguson said.
It was far from simple, however, as JC had to battle the chaos that has defined Mona’s attack all season.
“Credit must be given to Mona. They are a hard team to control in 90 minutes. They create chaos and they live off chaos. But credit must be given to us in terms of how we managed it in the end,” Ferguson said
CONFIDENCE
“I think efficiency let us down because we had enough chances to put this game to bed. Two-one is not a justifiable scoreline. But goals change games. Mona got the first goal and that gave them a little bit of confidence. Once we got those boys settled, we were always going to come out on top.”
It was not the result that Mona High envisioned as head coach Craig Butler’s alma mater ended Mona’s historic run.
According to Butler, the team was plagued with illness before their Champions Cup game on Saturday but praised his team for showing the warrior spirit that was missing in that Champions Cup defeat.
“Congratulations to JC but I really want to give congratulations to my players. Proud of the heart. I’m grateful for what the boys did. To be able to stand and fight that way. That is the Phoenix Spirit. That is what I want to see in my players. I’m grateful to have been a part of this Mona team,” Butler said.
JC’s opponents will be a familiar foe in St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS), who ended Kingston College’s reign with a 3-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader.
Goals from Shakeone Satchwell in the ninth minute, Rashaun Frankinson in the 25th, and Dwayne Atkinson in the 65th were enough to lead the school to their third final in five seasons.
STATHS head coach Philip Williams hailed his young team’s grit in the face of adversity to hold on for another chance at the title.
“They put in a decent shift and when we were down to 10 players they put in a even greater shift against an attacking KC team. They earned my respect tonight,” Williams said.