Excelsior spank Mona

Excelsior High looked every bit the reigning champions when they kick-started the ISSA Manning Cup round of 16 with a dominant 6-1 win over Mona High at the Jamaica College (JC) Ashenheim Stadium yesterday.

The Eagles wasted little time before racing to a 5-0 lead by the half-time break, before closing out the win with a measured second-half performance.

Kevin Deacon opened the scoring for Excelsior in the 13th minute, and Carlton Cavallier doubled the lead in the 24th.

Damarley Williams scored his first goal of the afternoon in the 30th minute, and Habbie Mohammed made it four in the 39th.

Christopher McDonald netted Excelsior’s fifth on the stroke of half-time, before Williams returned to score his second goal in the second half, rifling the ball into the net in the 54th minute.

Sean Leighton scored Mona’s consolation goal in the 82nd minute.

Excelsior’s head coach Keon Broderick praised his team for a dominant performance, particularly their first-half display.

“We did really well. We knew how we wanted to play, and that’s exactly what we came out here and did. We played simple football, and that kind of simple football does create goals, and we were able to create some goals, especially in the first half,” Broderick explained.

Focused on football

The win means Excelsior now sit atop Zone 1 of the round of 16 on three points, ahead of St Catherine High and St George’s College (STGC), second and third, respectively. Both have one point, with Mona rooted at the foot of the table without a point.

Broderick said the win was particularly significant for the school, which is still reeling from recent ISSA sanctions.

The defending champions were docked six points in the Manning Cup, and lost their spot in the Champions Cup, after they were adjudged to have used an ineligible player.

“It has been a tough week and a half for the boys, and I think they did really well. They did really well just to focus and just to prepare properly and execute in the past two games,” he continued.

“We’re not worried about what goes on in the boardroom, and we just focus on playing good quality football.”

Also in action, Jamaica College (JC) needed a late goal to rescue a point from Tivoli Gardens High in a 2-2 draw.

St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) and Wolmer’s Boys’ both enjoyed strong starts in Zone 3 as they recorded 6-0 and 4-1 wins over Hillel Academy and St Jago High, respectively.

Title contenders Kingston College got the better of Vauxhall High 3-1, while Calabar edged Camperdown 2-1.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com