The last two Manning Cup champions, Kingston College and Mona High were eliminated from the competition after battling to similar 2-2 draws against Calabar High and Jamaica College, respectively, at the Stadium East on Wednesday.

Mona High, the 2023 champions, and2024 champions KC needed a win to progress but both failed in their quarterfinals bid.
In the curtain raiser, Mona fell two goals down as Jamaica College came out firing with goals from Keshaun-Lee Chin in the 19th minute and Jamone Lyle in the 44th.

Chin fired home after latching onto Jabari Howell’s pass for his 11th goal of the season before Lyle added a second from inside the box.

Mona rallied with a 52nd minute goal from the competition’s leading marksman Sean Leighton before Savi-K Morton rammed home in the 56th minute to level the game.

They pushed for the winner and came close but in the end they fell short and out of the Manning Cup.

JC finished second in Group 4 with five points as Eltham High secured top pot with seven points after beating St Jago 3-2. Mona finished third on four points.

Raymond Watson, coach of JC, said his team knew it wasn’t a must win game and did well under the circumstances.

“It wasn’t a must win game and the plan was not to lose the game. The first half we were brilliant and we went into the changing room thinking the game is over and we totally went to sleep in the second half,” said Watson.

Mona’s head coach Donovan Duckie, said his team’s slow start was more psychological.

“It was more mental for us. We had to win, they wanted a draw. They came out with a good game plan and pressed us for the first 15 minutes and took control of the game. We were more direct wanting a result,” he pointed out.

“But after conceding I asked them to relax and put the ball down and we wanted started to create some movements and created two chances and we scored them,” he added.

Meanwhile, KC struck first courtesy of Shareef Ricketts in the seventh minute with his 18th goal of the season, sidefooting home a Deshawn Byfield cross.

But Calabar responded decisively with two goals by by Franchesco Reid in three minutes.

KC’s talisman Deshawn Byfield equalised on the stroke of half time for his 19th goal of the season.

At one point, Campion College were leading Hydel, a result that would have benefitted both KC and Calabar. But when news filtered through that Hydel had equalised, things looked bleak for the ‘Purples’.

In the end, Calabar held firm and booked their spot in the last eight for the first time in many years. They finished as group winners and were placed in Zone B alongside Eltham, STATHS and Vauxhall High, while Hydel are in Zone A with Excelsior, JC and Charlie Smith.