JC and Mona fancied to win ISSA Wata Manning Cup and Walker Cup finals
Howard Walker / Our Today
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The ISSA Wata Manning Cup and Walker Cup finals will bring urban football to a close today with two exciting encounters inside the National Stadium.
In the curtain raiser at 3:00 pm, defending champions Mona High take on St Catherine High for the Walker Cup crown, then at 6:00 pm, Jamaica College tackle Excelsior High for the prestigious Manning Cup to determine the best school in the Corporate Area.
Mona High, which won their first-ever Manning Cup title in 2023 and their first Walker Cup in 2024, will start as favourites to secure their third title and their second Walker Cup as the school continues to grow in football with the backing of the Craig Butler-led Phoenix Academy.
Mona will be led by Sean Leighton, the top scorer in urban football with 23 goals in the Manning Cup, but they are far from being a one-man team, as Savi-K Morton, Javade Wallace, Franklyn Mitcham and Devrahj Singh are all match winners.
St Catherine, on the other hand, will be hunting their third Walker Cup triumph, having won in 2019 and 2021, as the school seeks just their third football title overall.
St Catherine High have two match winners in Kedan Young and Dwight Gentles, and they will have to lead from the front if St Catherine is going to beat Mona and lift this Cup.
In the feature encounter, JC are favoured to win a record-extending 29th Manning Cup title. The team is full of quality all over, led by Jabarie Howell, Duwayne Burgher, Donald Stewart, Jamone Lyle, Keshaun-Lee Chin and Jamoy Dennis.
Excelsior are seeking their eighth title as they try to end a 21-year drought, having last tasted success in 2004.
But they are a revived team under the tutelage of Keon Broderick and are seen as the only team that can stop JC this season.
With the likes of Kimarly Scott, Damarley Williams, Terrence Williams, and Nicwayne Patrick, Excelsior have enough quality to stop JC and win their eighth Manning Cip title.
It will be a very interesting game, but JC are expected to win a record 29th title.
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