Mona, JC thriller ends 1-1

Schoolboy football giants Mona High and Jamaica College (JC) played out an entertaining 1-1 draw yesterday at Stadium East as they opened their campaigns in the quarter-final round of the ISSA Manning Cup competition.

With much anticipation building up to the match, fans were not left disappointed as both teams left it all on the pitch under wet and muddy conditions.

JC felt they scored the opener early in the contest but Giovanni Taylor’s goal in the 27th minute was called back because of a delayed offside call.

Sean Leighton would then open the scoring for Mona in the 35th minute as he buried his fifth goal of the season. His late run in the box had the JC defence scrambling as he struck gold, following up from an initial save from JC’s custodian Taywane Lynch.

Trailing at the break, JC showed their pedigree in the second half as they pinned the defending champions back with waves of attacking pressure.

They found the leveller in the 66th minute when their maestro Dyllan John found the back of the net from the penalty spot.

After the full-time whistle, both coaches were disgruntled with in-game decisions which went against their teams.

Davion Ferguson, head coach of JC, declined to comment on the referee’s decisions but praised his team’s response after falling behind in the contest.

“Personally, I don’t want to comment on the referee’s decisions,” he said in his post-game interview. “What I liked was the reaction from our boys because, in the second half, we really pegged them back and we should have won the game.”

‘UNFAIR DECISION’

Mona’s head coach Craig Butler was more open to speaking on the referee’s decisions, which he described as being totally unfair.

He, however, praised his team’s performance as he explained they were missing their midfield engine, Carlton Brown.

“It was totally unfair,” Butler said. “That penalty, although the referee in my opinion is a just referee, I think the indication from the linesman was wrong.”

He added, “I think the boys performed well under the circumstances. A lot needs to be said in terms of honour, decency and fairness in a game. What influenced our team strategy was being without Carlton Brown, our main holding midfielder. We had to change three people to try and fill that void when he’s not there.”

The result sees Mona and JC sitting joint second in the group with a point apiece as Kingston College (KC) ran rampant against Tivoli High in the second match of the evening.

The famed purples returned to their attacking best as they whipped Tivoli 5-0 to take charge of the group with three points.

St Catherine High clipped Campion College 2-0 to also take charge of their quarter-final group, as the fixture between Excelsior High and Hydel High was rescheduled to be played today at Stadium East.

Yesterday’s results:

Mona 1-1 Jamaica College

Kingston College 5-0 Tivoli

St Catherine 2-0 Campion College

Today’s game:

3 p.m: Excelsior vs Hydel at Stadium East