STATHS, Mona High in big showdown for semi-final spot

A close and competitive contest is expected when former champions St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) meet Mona High to decide the second semi-final spot from Group One in the ISSA/Manning Cup competition at Jamaica College today.

In the group's other game, defending champions Jamaica College (JC) will oppose St Catherine High at the Stadium East field. Both matches are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

JC, who have already secured qualification to the semi-finals, lead the group with maximum six points from two matches. They are followed by STATHS and Mona on three points each. A draw today will see STATHS advancing ahead of Mona by virtue of their plus one goal difference. Mona have scored two and conceded two for a zero goal difference.

Phillip Williams, coach of STATHS, said his players are feeling very confident within themselves going into today's game.

"We are pretty confident going into this game and we know what we need to do," said Williams.

"Mona are a tough team because they are a very talented bunch with a very good coach that knows his way around in terms of putting a team together and so I am looking forward to a good encounter," he said.

STATHS, who are coming off a 5-3 defeat to JC in their last game, will look to ace-striker Omar Laing who has scored 10 goals this season to get them in the last four. He is expected to receive support from his captain Omar Reid who has netted eight goals.

Mona are coming off a 2-0 victory over St Catherine, and, according to their head coach Craig Butler, they are very optimistic ahead of today's contest.

"We looked at the statistics, I think it favours us in terms of how STATHS perform against other teams," said Butler. "This is a must-win game and we are going to put in our best."

Butler added that he is expecting an excellent showing from all his players today.

"We are will be focusing on our style of play and to ensure that we continue in the same vein with the system that we have put in place and try to be an example for other schools to follow," he said.

St Catherine have conceded six goals in two quarter-final matches and should fall to a super-confident JC team with seven goals for and three against.