Mona High make winning start in Walker Cup defence

Defending champions Mona High School advanced to the quarterfinals of the ISSA Walker Cup KO competition, after a 4-2 win over a pesky St George's College at Stadium East yesterday.

Mona will join Wolmer's Boys', Kingston College (KC) and St Catherine High in the quarterfinals, along with the four Manning Cup quarterfinal losers.

Sean Leighton (19th, 66th) scored a double for the champions, who fell behind after initially taking the lead. Joenaldo Payne (45th) and Nathaniel McCarthy (73rd) were the other scorers for Mona.

Ryland Fray-Campbell (22nd, 29th) scored both goals for St George's.

Mona High's coach Ricardo Martin said they were far below their best in the first half, but made adjustments afterward.

"It is always good to go through to another round. But I was not happy with the first half because we were well below our level. St George's realised that, and we had to make some adjustments in the halftime. But I was pretty pleased with the second half," he said.

St George's coach, Marcel Gayle said it was a valiant effort from.his team.

"Mona took the lead, but we clawed our way back. But it's our Achilles heel all season, poor concentration," he said which cost them the match. "We have seen it in several games this season."

In the opening game at Stadium East, dethroned Manning Cup champions KC came from a goal down to beat St Jago High 4-1, with a brace from Shareef Ricketts. Jamal Fraser (12th) and Jahvaun Campbell (45+2) were KC's other scorers.

Travian Byfield handed St Jago a surprise lead from the penalty spot after 11 minutes.

Vassell Reynolds, KC's head coach, said: "I thought the team was well motivated coming into this. They were up for it. We stepped up after scoring the first one, and after scoring the second we had the game under control.

"The Manning Cup is now out of our grasp. So we are taking dead aim at the Walker Cup. And the boys are up for it," he said.

At Jamaica College, Wolmer's defeated Tivoli Gardens 4-2, while, St Catherine defeated Campion College 4-2 on penalties, following a 4-4 draw after regulation and extra time.livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com