NOBODY in their camp will even remotely suggest that Knox College, spurred by five successive victories in Group Three of the second-round, are now primed for success in this season’s ISSA/Digicel Rural Area Junior League netball competition.

“We are taking it one step at a time,” is all they are willing to say at the moment.

But, based on Tuesday’s impressive 22-17 victory over Denbigh High in their top-of-the-table clash, they really don’t need to say anything else. The performance spoke for itself.

In a group comprising Denbigh, Edwin Allen, Charlemont High, Oracabessa High and Yallahs High, Knox were always expected to advance to the quarter-finals; quite comfortably too. But not many expected them to top the pool ahead of Denbigh – the runners-up from last season and one of the current powerhouses in rural area schoolgirl netball.

Knox themselves are no minnows in the sport. They, we were told, have quite a good netball history, but for one reason or another fell off the map in recent years. And that’s exactly where they are looking to put themselves again: on the netball map.

This current Under-16s are veterans in their age-group, and are just about mellowing with experience, having retained the bulk of last season’s squad who had seemingly overachieved on their way to a third-place finish.

It’s not exactly clear, though, why Knox are currently refusing to speak to the media. But, based on what the person in charge of the group on Tuesday said off the record, it’s seemingly just a move to keep the team out of the spotlight. Not allowing the players to get carried away with the hype of their current form before they achieved anything tangible.

After all, they still have a few more hurdles to negotiate before they can even equal last season’s bronze medal finish, starting with the defending champions, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), in tomorrow’s big quarter-final clash at Clarendon Park.

Going into this game, Knox will of course be the neutrals’ favourite. As sport fans, we do love an underdog story, especially if the fairy dust is proving to be more than just luck. And, so far this season, Knox’s track record has nothing lucky about it. They placed second to former champions Holmwood Technical in their preliminary round group, before rounding into form in the second-round with successive wins against Charlemont, Edwin Allen, Yallahs, Oracabessa and Denbigh — averaging just about 27 goals per game.

STETHS, on the contrary, will come into this fixture bruised and with a few questions to answer, having on Tuesday failed their first real test of the season when they were beaten, 24-15, by another emerging force in May Day High from Manchester — who have now installed themselves as one of the favourites.