MONTEGO BAY, St James — THE protagonists in Saturday’s ISSA/Lime daCosta Cup finals at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) and Garvey Maceo High, got to the big game by decidedly different routes.

Both teams were on even keel in last weekend’s semi-finals, Garvey Maceo beating Frome Technical 2-0 at the St Elizabeth Sports Complex on Friday and a day later STETHS beating Port Antonio High by the same margin at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.

STETHS, the most dominant team in the daCosta Cup the last five years, started the season as one of the teams with at least even chances of making it to their fifth successive semi-finals.

They had won the previous three Ben Francis KO titles after winning the daCosta Cup in 2009 and had added crucial pieces to their outfit.

Garvey Maceo, the 2007 winners and semi-finalists two years later, on the other hand, would not have made it to most top 10 lists of schools that would still be in contention in late November.

On Saturday afternoon, however, both teams will go into the game that will decide the champions.

After last year’s ‘upset’ in the final against Glenmuir High, losing 0-1 on almost the last play in extra time, STETHS might distance themselves from the tag as they seek to add to titles they won in 1974, 1999 and 2009.

Coming into the season, STETHS who just missed their first double last year, added three important players, striker Jovan James, midfielder Keano Williams and Tevin Blair, all from Rusea’s High and who were part of their 2011 champion team, to an already impressive line-up.

James has proved his worth with eight goals in the regular season and picked up the team in the latter rounds with three crucial goals after goal-scoring machine Khesanio Hall sputtered, failing to score in three straight games.

Williams is the lynchpin in the midfield and has popped up with occasional goals.

Compared to 20 games played by STETHS, including three in the Ben Francis Knockout, Garvey Maceo has played just 13 games so far; while STETHS played 10 games in the first round, Garvey Maceo played just six as they were in a zone with just four teams and had to wait long periods between games while STETHS were guaranteed two games each week.

Understandably, STETHS dominates the statistical comparisons, at least up until the quarter-final stages.

The Omar Wedderburn-coached STETHS are unbeaten this season and has scored 65 goals in the daCosta Cup and another eight on their way to the Ben Francis KO title; while to, Garvey Maceo has scored ‘just’ 19 goals and suffered a loss to last year’s winners Glenmuir High during the first round.

The comparison is much closer, starting at the quarter-finals, however, where STETHS managed just two goals in three games, doing just enough to advance while Garvey appears to have hit their peak, scoring four goals while conceding one and both teams won their semi-finals by 2-0 margins on Saturday.

As valuable as Hall has been for STETHS with his 34 goals scored so far including seven since the start of the Inter-zone round, the pair of Ryan Scott and Ishmael Currie has been to Garvey Maceo, combing for seven goals and added to that tandem with the supporting cast lead by Derval Huntley and Enrico Ricketts.

It is one final which should ignite the entire country.