Defending champs stumble, Mona rue missed chances
Published:Sunday | November 5, 2023 | 12:12 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
THE QUARTER-FINAL stage of the 2023 ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup season kicked off in emphatic fashion at the Ashenheim Stadium as reigning champions Jamaica College (JC) suffered their first defeat of the season, a 1-0 defeat to the much-talked-about Hydel, courtesy of an 88th minute strike from captain Ronaldo Barrett.
JC, who had the lion’s share of goalscoring opportunities, got their first meaningful chance in the 55th minute with Dylan John’s powerful shot climbing just over the bar. In the 65th minute, John’s teammate Amarlie King also came close, while Javaun Mills’ 75th-minute effort was denied by a well-constructed Hydel defensive line.
In the dying moments of the game, Barrett slammed home a left-footed effort, stunning the home crowd.
Devon Anderson, head coach of Hydel, said his team had to change its modus operandi to deal with a team of the calibre of JC.
“It wasn’t the usual Hydel type of football that we came up here to play. We came to frustrate the opponents and the guys stuck to the task and then, finally, the breakthrough came. We were always after the three points, as we came up here with one thing in mind. We have a lot of things to work on, but we came up here to play this game tactically,” said Anderson.
In the day’s opening affair, a clash between Mona and Kingston College (KC), the former struck early, scoring in the seventh minute, courtesy of a Kshaine Gordon strike.
Mona also started the second half the brighter of the two. As early as the 51st minute, KC’s goalkeeper had to carefully handle Robino Gordon’s header. Two minutes later, the KC custodian had to be called into action again, pulling off a brilliant save to deny Gordon from the penalty spot.
That missed opportunity cost dearly, KC managing to squeeze out an equaliser in the 77th minute, thanks to Demario Dailey.
Craig Butler, head coach of Mona, said profligacy cost his team.
“We had at least 30 opportunities and our players didn’t put them away. We should have scored more and we should also be thankful that we didn’t get penalised more for it,” Butler said
Vassell Reynolds, head coach of KC, was pleased with the performance of his charges.
“There was no fear as we came out of the zone of death, so we were very well prepared. We conceded early but it gave us an opportunity to regroup and we stayed in the game.”
Yesterday’s Results
St George’s 2-0 Tivoli
STATHS 2-0 St Catherine
Mona 1-1 KC
JC 0-1 Hydel