Defending champions Mona secured a spot in the quarter-finals of ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup competition with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Campion College in Group A at the Ashenheim Stadium on Tuesday.

In the group’s other match, St George’s College revived their quarter-final hopes by defeating St Jago 1-0.

Mona, aiming for their second consecutive title, lead the group with a maximum of six points from two matches, followed by Campion College and St George’s College, who are tied on three points. However, Campion holds a two-goal advantage. St Jago sits at the bottom of the group with zero points.

Kingston College (KC) also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory over Wolmer’s in Group C at Stadium East. Hydel edged St Andrew Technical 1-0 in the group’s other game.

KC, one of the title favourites, lead the group with six points from two matches, followed by Hydel with three points, and St Andrew Technical and Wolmer’s tied with one point each.

Wolmer’s opened the scoring in the second minute, benefiting from an own goal by KC defender Christiano Myers. Wolmer’s led 1-0 at half-time. However, KC responded in the second half with goals from Shareef Ricketts (75th minute), Matrim Martin (77th minute), and Deshawn Byfield (84th minute) to seal the victory.

KC Head Coach Vassell Reynolds expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance and is looking forward to the quarter-finals.

“One of our goals from the start was to qualify for the second round and then advance to the quarterfinals,” Reynolds said. “The plan was to get maximum points from our first two games, and we have achieved that, putting us in a good position for the quarter-finals.”

In Group D, St Catherine also secured a quarter-final spot with a comfortable 3-1 win over Calabar. Jamaica College (JC) boosted their quarter-final hopes with a 5-0 win over Charlie Smith. St Catherine leads Group D with six points from two games, followed by JC with four, Calabar with one, and Charlie Smith on zero.

Tuesday’s results:

Kingston College 3, Wolmer’s 1

Hydel 1, St Andrew Technical 0

Jonathan Grant 0, Eltham 3

Campion College 1, Mona 3

St George’s College 1, St Jago 0

Calabar 1, St Catherine 3

Jamaica College 5, Charlie Smith 0