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Mona to face Jonathan Grant without key players
October 01, 2024
When defending Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Manning Cup champions Mona High take on Jonathan Grant today in their reverse fixture of Zone B action, they will be without several key players because of ISSA's new player eligibility rules.
Schoolboy standouts Carlton Brown, Robin Gordon and Denzel McKenzie will have to sit out Mona's match against Jonathan Grant, having represented Jamaica Premier League outfit Vere Phoenix United on Sunday.
This comes after ISSA had instituted a new ruling this season which mandates that any schoolboy player who competes for their club must sit out six days before they can represent their school in any ISSA competition.
"A player who plays a match in any club competition (eg. Premier League/Major League), during the SBF season, must sit out six days after playing in that competition before being eligible to represent their school in an SBF game," the rule states.
Despite the players' ineligibility, Mona still enter the fixture as favourites, having already shown their depth and quality off the bench.
Mona's coach Ricardo Martin said the squad has a strong core of young players who are ready to make their name in the schoolboy competition.
"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."
The last time the teams met, Mona edged Jonathan Grant 1-0. They will hope to once again walk away with all three points as they lead the zone with 15 points ahead of Jonathan Grant, who sit second with 10.
Jonathan Grant enter the fixture undefeated in their last three games. They are also looking to stay ahead of Charlie Smith High, who are hoping to sneak into the top two in the zone.
Charlie Smith, who are third in the zone on eight points, will take on Waterford High, who are lying fourth with four points from four games.
