STATHS penalty heartbreak … again

Mona High handed St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) yet another penalty shoot-out heartbreak as last season’s Manning Cup champions punched their tickets to the final of the ISSA Walker Cup knockout competition with a 4-3 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Mona will contest the final against Excelsior High, who were the first qualifiers into the competition’s deciding match as they opened the double header at Stadium East with a 2-0 win over Wolmer’s Boys in their semi-final clash.

The result means that STATHS have been eliminated from a schoolboy football competition on penalties for the sixth time since 2017.

STATHS head coach Phillip Williams bemoaned his team’s misfortune in penalty shoot-outs after their gritty performance against Mona in muddy conditions.

“Another penalty shoot-out, another loss, but it’s a lottery, and we can’t do anything about it,” Williams said after his team’s elimination.

“I think the guys did well today. Looking at the underfoot condition and the weather, there are several other places that I would have liked to be other than here, but the boys played well today.”

Both teams found it difficult to get into their usual style of play as the weather saw the field deteriorating into a muddy surface as the game progressed.

Mona went ahead in the contest after a miskicked clearance from STATHS defender Keeno Levy ended up in the back of his own net to give them the lead just before halftime.

STATHS would not be denied their equaliser, however, as while covered with mud, Alexavier Gooden clawed his team back into the game as he scored a well-taken free kick in time added on.

Level at the end of regulation time, the match went straight to the dreaded penalty shoot-out, where Mona held their nerve to run out 4-3 victors.

In the first game of the afternoon, Excelsior handed Wolmer’s a bitter end to their season as the boys from Heroes’ Circle were eliminated at the Walker Cup semi-final stage for the third year in a row.

Wolmer’s started the stronger of the two teams, but Alex Wright and Addon Daye found their early attempts saved by Excelsior’s custodian.

Excelsior then stamped their influence in the later stages of the first half and opened the scoring in the 42nd minute after Kivann Salmon unleashed a furious effort that rocketed into the roof of the net.

Chasing an equaliser in the second half, Wolmer’s struggled to break Excelsior’s stranglehold on the game.

They found themselves two goals down with 10 minutes left on the clock when Terence Williams’ initial effort had a deflection, which got the better of Wolmer’s goalkeeper, Yuri Dryden.

Excelsior’s head coach, Keon Broderick, praised his team for adapting well to the rainy conditions and snatching the win.

“I am very proud of the boys. Based on the conditions, we could not play the usual Excelsior type of football, but nonetheless, we made the adaptations and were able to control the ball for long periods of the game.”

The final of the Walker Cup is set for December 6 at the National Stadium.

Yesterday’s results

Excelsior 2-0 Wolmer’s

Mona 1-1 (4-3) STATHS