WITH their historic third straight ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel Ben Francis Knockout title out of the way after beating Grange Hill High 4-2 on penalty kicks in Saturday’s final at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) can now focus on taking their first schoolboys’ football double when the daCosta Cup resumes on Wednesday.

Jamel Sinclair scored twice in the second half to dig STETHS out of a two-nil hole after just 13 minutes as they pushed Grange Hill to extra time and penalties to become the first team to win three straight Ben Francis KO titles after wins in 2010 and 2011.

Norman Malcolm had scored in the third and 13th minutes to give Grange Hill a shock 2-0 lead, but they failed to hold on to the advantage as STETHS came back the stronger team in the second half, forcing them back in their own half for long periods and the goals were only a matter of time.

In the shoot-out, Kaycee Bromfield, Donjay Smith, Romario Thompson and Rodney Whitter scored for STETHS, while Shaquille Irving and Shackleford netted for Grange Hill after the STETH goalkeeper saved a shot from Omarley Thomas.

STETHS, who were one of only two schools to have a perfect win record in the Inter-zone round of the daCosta Cup will play in Zone One of the quarterfinals against Mannings School, Cedric Titus and Garvey Maceo while Grange Hill have been eliminated.

— Paul Reid