‘We’re still a top-six team’

With a massive clash against Jamaica College (JC) set for today in Zone C of the ISSA/WATA Manning Cup, Vauxhall High’s head coach Kyle Butler believes his players stand among the best teams in this year’s competition.

Butler kick-started an ambitious project at Vauxhall at the start of the season when he took over as head coach at a school not accustomed to success.

With a perfect record in their first five games, including 26 goals scored while only conceding four, Vauxhall looked the part of potential title contenders.

They suffered their first defeat, however, when they fell 2-1 in a tightly fought contest against St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) on Tuesday.

Major improvements

The loss has not tempered Butler’s appetite for success and he said the programme has seen major improvements since his arrival.

“I’m pleased about our progress and, when you think about STATHS, you know that they’ve done a lot of work over the years with their programme, so they’re really advanced,” he said.

“We just started rebuilding this year and, for us to come against them and they barely beat us, I’m very proud of our progress. I’m proud of the boys because they showed fighting spirit.”

Butler said their match against JC today will not be a battle between David and Goliath but, rather, a clash between two top teams.

He believes Vauxhall are one of the top teams in the Manning Cup and can go toe-to-toe against any opponent.

“A simple loss is not a defeat for us. We’ll bounce back and we’ll get our game plan strong, and we’ll come back again,” Butler promised.

“I still think that we’re definitely in the top six teams, at least in the Manning Cup. STATHS and Jamaica College are probably the best teams in the league, and we went toe-to-toe with them until the last second.”

The match will be played at Vauxhall with kick-off set for 3:30 p.m.

JC currently lead the zone with 16 points, tied with STATHS, but hold the advantage with a better goal difference.

Vauxhall round out the zone’s top three with 15 points, with Camperdown fourth with nine.

In Zone E, Mona High will be hoping to continue their perfect record as they go in search of their seventh straight win in an away date against debutants Hillel Academy.

Calabar High will travel to Ascot High in a match between second and fourth, while Wolmer’s Boys will go hunting for their third win on the bounce against Dunoon Park Technical at the Excelsior High school field.

Mona lead the zone with 18 points, three ahead of Calabar, 15, with Wolmer’s third with 12.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

Today’s games:

Spanish Town vs Camperdown at Prison Oval

Greater Portmore vs STATHS at Royal Lakes

St Mary’s College vs Edith Dalton James at St Mary’s College

Vauxhall vs JC at Vauxhall

Dunoon Park vs Wolmer’s Boys at Excelsior High

Ascot vs Calabar at Ascot

Meadowbrook vs Pembroke Hall at Meadowbrook

Hillel vs Mona at Hillel

All games are set to kick off at 3:30 p.m.