Defending champions Mona High, Kingston College (KC), St Catherine High and Charlie Smith High all advanced to the semi-final of the ISSA Walker Cup on Monday.

Mona, playing with 10 men, defeated Hydel High 3-2 in the curtain raiser at Waterhouse Stadium before KC clipped Calabar 2-1 in the feature encounter.

In the other games at the Ashenheim Stadium, St Catherine whipped Vauxhall 5-2 and Charlie Smith beat Tivoli 6-1.

Mona will play Charlie Smith on Wednesday at 2:00 pm while KC take on St Catherine High at 4:15 pm. Both games will be at the Ashenheim Stadium, Jamaica College.

Mona, looking to retain their title, turned in a workmanlike performance in beating Hydel despite playing with 10 men from the first half after Devrahj Singh was red carded for kicking a defender in the face while attempting a spectacular overhead kick.

But before that, Joenaldo Payne had given Mona a fourth-minute lead, nodding home from a corner kick.
Hydel, despite being outplayed, equalised via a penalty awarded when Mona’s goalkeeper Howard Robinson fouled Sean-John Curchar in the box. Havel Watson easily converted the penalty, making it 1-1 in the 40th minute.

Mona restored their advantage as substitute Franklyn Mitchum fired home from close range in the 71st minute before the prolific Sean Leighton slotted home in the 74th, to make it 3-1.

Hydel found some energy and were rewarded in the 77th minute when Ackeem Ewan slotted home to reduce the deficit and set the stage for a tense final minutes. However, Mona held firm and booked their semi-final spot.

Nine-time champions KC remained on course for a record 10th title, beating fierce rivals Calabar 2-1 and gained some level of revenge as it was the 2-2 draw with Calabar that knocked them out of the Manning Cup.

Defender Rohan Brown headed KC into the lead in the eighth minute, Payton Larmond pulled Calabar level in the 14th and just two minutes later Shareef Ricketts found the winner in the 16th minute.