Butler: I am confident that we will now win the title

MONA High head coach Craig Butler is confident his team can go all the way in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup after they blanked St Catherine High 2-0 in their final game in Group E of the competition yesterday.

Mona ended the preliminary round with a perfect eight wins from eight games to top the group with 24 points and a healthy goal tally of 37 with four against. The Anthony Patrick-coached St Catherine High team ended with 18 points and second-place and also booked their spot in the next round of the competition.

In yesterday’s encounter, Dante Peralto put Mona in front from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute while Romarion Thomas scored in the 68th minute to secure the three points. Just before Thomas scored St Catherine had a chance to level the scores but they missed from the penalty spot.

“Mona are here to stay as the guys were able to play several different system and adapt well. St Catherine are a physical team but Mona have skill and tactical awareness and the boys were able to adapt well today,” said Butler.

“The team has been sound all season and we have very tall players in the defence and they are very young and the objective is to ensure that our players distinguish themselves well so that they can move to the next level.

“After reaching the quarterfinals and then the semifinals the following year, I am very confident that we will now win the title. I am not killing myself to win but we do have the team that can do so,” Butler added.

St Catherine’s coach Patrick is happy that his team has advanced to the next round of the competition. “The team started very slow in the first half but they improved at the start of the second half but an injury to one of my top defenders who had to leave the field resulted in Mona scoring their second goal. We have a very young team and the future looks very bright for us,” he stated.

Today’s games

Hydel vs Calabar

KC vs Charlie Smith

Camperdown vs Penwood

Tivoli vs Cumberland

JC vs Meadowbrook

Spanish Town vs Kingston Tech

Bridgeport vs Tarrant

Cedar Grove vs Clan Carthy

Excelsior vs STATHS

St George’s vs Campion

Waterford vs Ardenne

Jose Marti vs Pembroke Hall

All games kick off at 3 p.m.