AFTER finishing with three consecutive wins in the round of 16 and advancing to the quarter-finals of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/Digicel Manning Cup, Mona High Head Coach Craig Butler says his team is yet to peak in its title defence.

In a repeat of last season’s semi-finals, the reigning champions registered a comfortable 3-0 victory over 22-time champions St George’s College (STGC) at Jamaica College’s Ashenheim Stadium on Friday. The win sees Mona ending atop Group 1 with nine points, advancing to the Manning Cup last eight and qualifying for the all-island knockout tournament, the Champions Cup.

The defeat also means STGC were knocked out of the Manning Cup, finishing third in the group on three points. Campion Collge, on six points, will join Mona in the next round following their 1-0 win over fourth-placed St Jago High.

Despite Mona’s Sean Leighton missing a penalty inside five minutes, the team dominated in the first half and were rewarded through strikes from Demarion Harris and Denzel McKenzie.

St George’s hopes of a comeback were made virtually impossible when defender Adjani Peart was sent off just three minutes into the second half. Mona would pile on further misery when Javier Dunn netted in the 87th minute.

The win continues their near two-year unbeaten run in the Manning Cup, with their last defeat coming against Jamaica College in the 2022 semi-finals.

After getting by St Jago, Campion and STGC, Butler believes the team’s all-round performance has been impressive.

“The quality is there but it’s also the teamwork, the technical ability, the humility, and the willingness to work with each other and to listen. We run a tight ship at Mona — we don’t allow any form of misbehaviour or disrespect — and when your time is up, no matter how good you are, we’re going to take you off and rest you so we can get other people in,” Butler told the Observer.

“We don’t have indisciplined players at Mona; we have players that are growing, top talents, and with top talents usually comes big egos — and you have to manage those egos and keep them in line. For us, we’ve been doing a good job with it. Our physios and our masseuse have been doing a great job and I think they’ve kept them well.”

While satisfied with the team’s efforts so far, Butler says there’s far more to come as they await their next set of opponents.

“We actually haven’t even come out of second gear yet. I’m not being conceited or [a] show off but we haven’t really been tested or pushed. The boys haven’t had to work at the level where they work in training,” he said.

“I’m not really concerned about that; my concern is that the players develop, get better to be able to challenge for positions overseas. That’s what we want, to be better than the players that are overseas, so we’re going to push them beyond the level that they’re at.”

The defeat means STGC’s 12-year wait for a Manning Cup crown will be extended, and after making the last four in 2023 Head Coach Neville “Bertis” Bell believes his team deserved more from this campaign.

“We didn’t do as well as we could. Football is a strange game. I think this team is a quality team but we just didn’t get it right in the games that mattered. The Campion College game obviously hurt us. Had we not lost that game we wouldn’t be where we are now but, overall, we just didn’t get it right,” said Bell.

STGC and St Jago will now fall into Walker Cup contention, and though not as prestigious as in previous years, Bell says he wants to bring home a 10th title.

“It’s a competition that we can win a title, and we want to. We are tied with the most Walker Cup titles. I certainly take it seriously and, hopefully, I can get the team to understand that we still have something to play for.

Also on Friday, last season’s beaten finalists Hydel booked their spot in the quarter-finals after a 1-0 win over Wolmer’s, pipping St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) into second place in Group 3 despite a 1-0 win over group winners Kingston College (KC).

The two remaining quarter-finalists will be decided on Saturday, with Jamaica College, Calabar, Tivoli and Eltham vying for the spots. St Catherine and Excelsior have already booked their place in the last eight.

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

Mona 3, St George’s 0

St Jago 0, Campion 1

Hydel 1, Wolmer’s 0

Kingston College 0, STATHS 1

SATURDAY’S GAMES

St Catherine vs Jamaica College @ Prison Oval

Charlie Smith vs Calabar @ Anthony Spaulding Complex

Eltham vs Tivoli @ Eltham

Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant @ Jonathan Grant

(All games set to start 3:00 pm)

St George’s College’s Amir Hall (left) challenges Mona High’s Savi-K Morton during the Manning Cup match on Friday.

BELL… I think this team is a quality team but we just didn’t get it right in the games that mattered

St George’s College’s Shaquan Clarke (left) and Mona High’s Alex Suazo battle for possession during the Manning Cup round-of-16 contest at Jamaica College’s Ashenheim Stadium on Friday. Mona won 3-0. (Photos: Karl Mclarty)