SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) stayed on course for the rural area football double after qualifying for their fifth straight semi-final appearance yesterday, clipping Green Island High 1-0 in their quarter-final group game at the St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex.

The win ensured that STETHS topped their group.

Jovan James’s first-half goal carried the Ben Francis Knockout champions to seven points in Group One and they will face Group Two runners-up Port Antonio High in one semi-final next weekend at Jarrett Park.

It was the second straight game that top-scorer Khesanio Hall had failed to score for STETHS after he had scored in 17 straight games in both the daCosta Cup and Ben Francis Knockout, for a total of 34 goals.

Hall, who played the final five minutes in Jamaica’s 1-0 loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the senior men’s friendly international, at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Friday night, had failed to score in STETHS’ 0-0 draw against Frome on Thursday and was playing in this third game in three days.

In the other semi-final at STETHS, Group One runners-up Frome Technical, who are in the second straight semi-final, will take on Garvey Maceo High, who won Group Two.

Frome Technical, who lost to STETHS in the semi-finals last year, grabbed their place with a last-minute goal from Jahmarley Brissett at the Frome Sports Complex to beat out of contention Marcus Garvey Technical as a draw would have seen Green Island take their place in the semis instead.

Frome finished with five points, one more than the Hanover school.

There was also drama in the other Group as Muschett High, who had dragged themselves into contention with a series of good results from the Inter-zone round, were knocked out on goal difference, finishing on four points, the same as Port Antonio High who had beaten them 3-0 on a waterlogged field at Carder Park on Wednesday.

Muschett, the runners-up in their first-round zone, knew they had to beat Garvey Maceo to have any chances of advancing, and dominated their game at Jarrett Park but could not get past goalkeeper Rojay Robinson despite pinning the Clarendon team back in their own half for the last 10 minutes of the game.

The Wakefield-based school failed to score in two straight games after defying the odds to beat fancied Manchester High in the opening quarter-final game a week ago.

Yesterday’s results

Frome 1, Marcus Garvey 0

STETHS 1, Green Island 0

Muschett High 0, Garvey Maceo 0

Manchester High 0, Port Antonio 0

–>