Manning Cup quarters start today
Published:Friday | December 10, 2021 | 12:15 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Jamaica College (JC) head coach Davion Ferguson says he is hoping that his team maintains the reputation it has built for itself during the business end of the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup season.
JC’s 2019 title defence continues as they face Mona High School at Stadium East at 3 p.m. in their Group 1 quarter-final encounter.
The reigning champions, after starting the season with one point from their first two games, closed out the first rounds with four straight wins, 20 goals scored, and none conceded. While pleased at how quickly they have turned around their fortunes, Ferguson emphasised the importance of a good start to the quarter-final round and how they cannot afford to underestimate the ability of Mona under the leadership of head coach Craig Butler.
“They will be committed and they will play hard,” Ferguson said. “He (Butler) is slowly building a programme there. If there is anything that we are sure about is that we cannot take this opponent lightly, especially in a competition of this nature after a delay.
“A lot of their players would have been playing during the lockdown. Physically, they should be very good. But what we have to focus on is JC. And JC at this stage of the season is normally a very dangerous proposition.”
Mona qualified for the second round, finishing runners-up in Group C, which included group winners Kingston College and third-placed St Catherine High School, who also advanced. They are on a four-game unbeaten run and, while the focus has been on the long-term development of the players, Butler says that there is a real belief within the squad about their title chances in the first year of his project.
“We are playing for the first time with the mentality of wanting to win the tournament and believing that we can win,” Butler said. “We are playing against schools that have been doing this day in, day out. What we wanted to do is build on our strengths, the speed, the skill, and the coachability of our players, so that they can adapt quickly.”
Although acknowledging the growth that some young players still need to make, Ferguson says that their 2019 triumph gives them familiarity both in managing high-pressure situations and knowing the price required for success.
“It’s always good when you have walked that road before,” he said. “And we would have walked that road before and we know exactly what is at stake and exactly what needs to be done. There is a lot of noise going on around us but we are focused and our job is to control what we have control over.”
St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) will face St Catherine High at 1 p.m. at Stadium East. STATHS and Excelsior High School replaced Camperdown High School and Tivoli Gardens High School on Tuesday after they were expelled for fielding ineligible players.
STATHS head coach Philip Williams said that addition has given his players a new lease on life, ready to take advantage of this opportunity while committed to the long-term success of his core of players.
“I think that they are in the right mindset because they know it’s a long-term project. So they know this is a bonus for us to be in the second round, despite the way that it came about,” Williams said. “[But] it is the job for the coaching staff to keep them focused and trying to get them to play consistently good football for as long as possible.”
Today’s matches:
Quarter-final Group 1 at Stadium East
STATHS v St Catherine 1 p.m.
JC v Mona 3 p.m.