Battle of the Butlers goes to the wire

Craig Butler got the better of his son, Kyle Butler, as last year’s beaten finalists Mona High School recorded a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Vauxhall in their ISSA Walker Cup quarter-final at Waterhouse Stadium yesterday.

Niquan Allen, in the 53rd minute, and Franklin Mitcham, in the 84th, scored for Mona, while Vauxhall captain Serani Brown netted in the 61st minute.

Mona will now face Jamaica College (JC) in the semi-finals.

In the second game of the double-header, Kingston College (KC) secured their place in the semi-finals after an exciting 4-2 penalty shootout victory over St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS).

The teams had battled to a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation time. KC will now face Excelsior in the semi-finals.

Craig Butler, who was pleased with his team’s performance, said he was also proud of the work Kyle was doing with the Vauxhall programme.

“I think Vauxhall came very well and they understand our system, our methodology. They tried to keep the ball when we dropped and they tried to play them long. Kyle is an excellent coach, he is my son and I am very proud of him. It didn’t feel good to beat him. I know how hard he works because he works a lot even off the field to get these boys ready, to support and to be there for them,” he said.

Kyle was gracious in defeat and said his team gave a strong account of themselves.

“It was definitely a valiant effort. I feel like we deserved more from the game,” said Kyle. “I think that the first goal that scored on us was very soft and a very tough decision to make in a game like this. But we fought, we got back a goal and it is just unfortunate that we got caught in transition.

“We are mentally strong and we are mentally monsters and the boys are strong, you can see that they made a lot of progress since last year. There is a lot of positivity, there is a lot of hope within the team.”

Mona created the better scoring opportunities in the first half, with national Under-20 player Sean Leighton coming close on two occasions.

Leighton squandered a glorious chance to give Mona the lead in the 38th minute when his right-footed effort from 10 yards went wide of the target.

Four minutes later, the lanky forward, who troubled the Vauxhall defence with his pace and dribbling ability, fired over the crossbar from 12 yards as the teams went into the break locked at 0-0.

Mona dominated the early stages of the second half and were finally rewarded in the 53rd minute when Allen fired home from point-blank range after Vauxhall failed to clear their lines.

However, Brown drew Vauxhall level eight minutes later when he arrived at the near post to finish from close range.

Mitcham then sealed victory for Mona six minutes from time with a strike from 10 yards, sending the former finalists into the last four.