STATHS advance after 1-1 draw against nine-man Mona

Two second-half dismissals undermined Mona High’s efforts at Ashenheim Stadium, Jamaica College (JC), yesterday as St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) gained the point they needed to advance to the semi-finals of the ISSA/Manning Cup competition.

Keneldo Brown scored for Mona in the 27th minute and Namar Nelson netted the equaliser for STATHS in the 69th minute after Mona’s Carl Brown was sent off for violent conduct in the 60th minute. Brown’s teammate Ronaldo Jones was ejected from the match after picking up a second yellow card in the 77th minute.

The 1-1 draw ensured that STATHS placed second in Group One with four points. Their plus one goal difference put them ahead of Mona who also ended on four points.

In the day’s second game, defending champions JC finished atop the group with maximum nine points from three games, after a 3-1 win over St Catherine at the Stadium East field.

Despite advancing to their fourth consecutive semi-finals, Phillip Williams, the head coach of STATHS, said while he is happy to be in the last four of the competition, he was not satisfied with his team’s overall performance.

“It was a brave performance but not one that the coaching staff was pleased about. I think that my players lost their composure knowing they are just one game away from the semi-finals,” said Williams.

“Hopefully, we can put it together for the semi-finals with a lot more composure and get ourselves back to the final of the competition,” he said.

TEAM PLAYED WELL

Craig Butler, coach of Mona, said his team played well despite the draw and loss of two players. “I think the boys did a great job. I thought that we showed that we have quality but on the day sometimes the ball doesn’t go your way,” said Butler.

“I honestly believe that there were some questionable calls by the officials but we are not going to cry over spilt milk because it is gone,” he said.

“With nine men on the pitch and you are still pressuring your opponents and the score ends up being 1-1, I think the boys really acquitted themselves well,” Butler said.

Mona dominated the early exchanges and they were finally rewarded when Brown arrived at the near post and slammed the ball into the back of the net after the STATHS defenders had failed to clear their lines.

Mona’s joy quickly turned to sorrow 15 minutes into the second half when Brown was shown a straight red card by referee Oshane Nation for striking an opponent in the face. STATHS took advantage of this as they got the equaliser when Nelson fired home from close range.

However, despite going down to nine men 13 minutes from full-time, Mona never gave up as they still created a number of chances which their attackers failed to put away.

Kingston College (KC), the title favourites, will look to ease into the competition’s semi-finals when they face Excelsior High in their final Group Two game at Ashenheim Stadium. KC are on maximum six points from two games.

Excelsior are in second on three points, the same as third-place Charlie Smith High who oppose Kingston Technical at Stadium East. Excelsior must defeat KC to be sure of a place in the last four. A win for KC and even a point for Charlie Smith will send the south St Andrew-based school through to the semi-finals.

Today’s matches 3 p.m: Kingston College vs Excelsior – Jamaica College

3 p.m: Charlie Smith vs Kingston Technical – Stadium East