Coaches confident Mona will retain Manning Cup

Mona High coaches Kyle Butler and Ricardo Martin said they are confident Mona High will be able to defend their schoolboy football title come the end of the 2024 ISSA Manning Cup season.

Mona High are currently sitting pretty atop Zone B of the Manning Cup with a perfect record of three wins from as many games.

So far, the defending champions have shown their ability to flex their goalscoring muscles as well as grind out hard-fought wins in their opening encounters.

Butler said the team is adaptable which is a necessary trait of championship-winning teams.

“As I’ve said, championship teams know how to win and we’re definitely a championship team,” he said.

“We can be physical or we can be tactical or we can be technical and we have so many different systems that we can deploy and bring different dynamics to the game. We have a lot of youth as well that are emerging into big talents so we’re very excited about what’s the come,” Butler said.

Mona have found the back of the net 17 times this season and will be looking to add a lot more goals as the first round progresses.

However, Butler maintained the focus for Mona will be to sharpen their style of play as they prepare for sterner opposition in the second and knockout stages of the Manning Cup.

“We are very confident that we’re going to go all the way but it is more than just the results, it is how we play and how our system works. That is what we’re really focused on when we play, not necessarily the score but ensuring we’re doing the right thing so when we come across good opposition, we ensure that we’re ready.”

Martin said while the title defence is important for the players and the school’s community, the coaching staff is also working to ensure Mona’s success will not be a flash in the pan.

He said the team is developing a talented core of young players who are now breaking into the squad and learning under the guidance of the more experienced players.

This will allow the team to maintain their competitiveness in schoolboy football competitions for years to come.

“It is very important for them to seize the opportunity right now,” Martin explained. “We have young talents coming through and we still have players that we will be retaining next year as well. We have players that are 15 years old and 16 years old playing right now so it’s just continuing their development to keep on going.”

Mona’s next game will be an away fixture against Charlie Smith High tomorrow.