LINSTEAD, St Catherine — Pre-season favourites and last year’s beaten finalists Dinthill Technical will start life after Rodave Murray when they kick-start their campaign in the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association/FLOW daCosta Cup schoolboy football season with a Zone K game against Bog Walk High in Linstead this afternoon, set to start at 3:30pm.

Murray, who started playing for the former champions at age 14, whose 26 goals helped the team to the final last year, has been ruled ineligible for this season.

Dinthill Technical are still expected to be the class of Zone K and will seek to start by extending a two-season unbeaten run against Bog Walk.

Sixteen more games will be played today as former champions St James High, Frome Technical and Glenmuir High all seek to get their season off on a winning note.

St James High, who progressed to the quarter-finals last year, will travel to Maldon in Zone A where they will face a team that is returning to the competition after a two-year break.

The Theodore Whitmore-coached St James High have retained a number of players from the team that topped Zone A last season and could once again challenge for the top spot.

Frome Technical are also taking on a team that has missed a number of seasons when they travel to face Knockalva Technical, who last played in 2013 and are rebuilding their programme.

Glenmuir High made a shock exit at the quarter-final stages last year after being the first school to qualify for the Inter-zone round, dropping just two points then cruising through the second round without a loss before they were surprised 3-1 by Rusea’s High at Jarrett Park.

They open against Foga Road High today as they return to Zone M after playing in Zone N for the last three seasons.

Manchester High, under the guidance of Andrew Edwards, will continue their hunt for a first-ever daCosta Cup title when they take on Cross Keys High in their opening Zone F game.

Manchester High have not conceded a goal against Cross Keys in their last seven games, outscoring them 22-0 over the period.

With Donovan Duckie at the helm last year, Manchester High scored a record 68 goals, while conceding just four and winning all 10 first-round games, but came up short at the semi-final stage once again.