Rusea’s maul Cambridge 11-1 in D’Cup
CAMBRIDGE, St James — Dushane Beckford scored four times and Tavan Barnes got a hat-trick as former champions Rusea’s High swamped Cambridge High 11-1 in their ISSA/Flow daCosta Cup Zone B game at Cambridge High yesterday.
Leonardo Leslie also scored two, while Zachry Atkinson and Daniel Reid got one goal each as they opened up a two-point lead over Frome Technical, who were held 1-1 by Green Island at Frome.
It was the 10-time champions’ biggest win since 2011, when they blanked Green Island High 10-0 in the season opener as Rusea’s won their third straight game after winning their first two by 1-0 margins.
Port Antonio High also scored their third straight win in Zone L, edging Happy Grove 1-0 in their top-of-the-zone clash. Port Antonio pushed on to nine points, three more than Happy Grove, as Titchfield High scored their first win, a 3-0 blanking of Buff Bay, to move into third place on four points.
St James High moved past Cornwall College into the lead in Zone A after beating Green Pond High 1-0 at Green Pond with Ronaldo McLeish scoring the goal.
St James are on seven points, two more than Cornwall College, both from three games, while Green Pond stayed in third place on one point from two games.
Despite giving up a last-minute penalty to William Knibb Memorial in a 2-2 draw, Spot Valley High still lead Zone C with four points.
Herbert Morrison Technical scored their first win, beating Muschett High 2-0 in a rain-affected game in Montego Bay to join the Trelawny school on seven points.
Holmwood Technical are the leaders in Zone G after a 2-0 win over neighbours Christiana High after joint leaders Spalding and Knox drew 1-1.
Lennon High joined defending champions Clarendon College in the lead in Zone H, both on seven points after beating Kellits High 3-0.
York Castle are the new leaders in Zone I after their 1-0 win over Ocho Rios High and are on 10 points, one more than Marcus Garvey Technical.
Browns Town and Steer Town Academy drew 1-1 in the other game.
Meanwhile, three schools, led by Manchester High, will take perfect win records into today’s round of 17 matches.
Manchester High will be going after a fifth straight win in Zone F when they travel to Winston Jones, while Petersfield High and Paul Bogle both will be seeking to run their record to four straight.
Petersfield High are seeking to make it out of the zone for the second successive season and took a big step on Tuesday after beating Godfrey Stewart High 1-0 in Sav-La-Mar and will host Little London, losers of all three games played.
Godfrey Stewart will seek a comeback after Tuesday’s loss when they travel to face Maud McLeod High.
Paul Bogle could face their toughest test in Zone O when they go to Seaforth, who are in second place two points behind.
Both games between the teams last season ended in stalemate.
Meanwhile, surprise Zone E leaders Lacovia High will seek to extend their unbeaten run against Munro College and prove their hot start is no fluke.