Butler eyes revenge as Mona target KC in Manning Cup quarter-finals

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Mona High will be hunting revenge when they face Kingston College (KC) in Tuesday’s ISSA Manning Cup quarter-final, with head coach Craig Butler insisting his players are determined to settle the score after their controversial Walker Cup defeat to the North Street school.

Mona and KC will meet in the curtain raiser at Stadium East at 2:30 pm before perennial rivals Jamaica College and St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) clash at Waterhouse Stadium at 4:30 in Group B, deemed the "Group of Death".

Only two teams will advance from Group B and will be joined by two others from Group A that consists of champions Excelsior High, Eltham High, Calabar High and Wolmer's Boys' in the semi-finals.

Mona lost the Walker Cup 1-2 to KC, with Butler feeling peeved as he thought KC's equalising goal should have been disallowed.

KC won 2-1 to lift the Walker Cup, but Butler believes Mona has the quality and technical ability to overcome KC and move closer to a semi-final spot, saying his players have not forgotten the manner in which they lost their previous meeting.

“Our boys feel undone by the unfair goal, so we'll be coming to hunt it and go out there and perform at the highest possible level that we can,” Butler told the Jamaica Observer.

The rematch headlines Group B, which also features former champions STATHS and Jamaica College (JC), setting up what Butler expects to be a fiercely competitive battle for the two semi-final places.

“I believe that it's a competitive group with all former champions in the group and I believe that it should be an excellent game with KC having the replay of the Walker Cup,” he said.

Despite the difficult assignment against the Walker Cup champions, Butler is backing his team's ability to progress.

“I believe that our chances of getting through this round are as good as any, but I believe that our quality in terms of the players that we have and the technical ability is going to shine through,” he said.

“I'm looking forward to a great game," he reiterated.