Former champions St James High were among eight schools to advance to the second round of the ISSA/FLOW daCosta Cup schoolboy football competition, after positive results in yesterday’s round of games.

St James High beat Green Pond 5-1 to join defending champions Cornwall College as the qualifiers from Zone A, while Cedric Titus got second place in Zone C. Petersfield High from Zone D, Holmwood Technical and Alston High from Zone G, Zone J winners St Mary Technical, Fair Prospect from Zone L, and Central High from Zone N also booked places.

Twenty-five of the 32 spots are now filled. But the start of the second round of matches set for Wednesday is now in serious doubt, after a number of games scheduled for yesterday were not played for a number of reasons.

ISSA had rescheduled first-round games for Monday and Wednesday with a view to having a staggered start to the second round that will be played on a home-and-away basis for the first time. But the organisers might be forced to push back the start of the second round a few days.

At Jarrett Park, Akeem Smith scored a first-half hat-trick to lead St James High to a 5-2 win over Green Pond as they improved to 22 points, three behind Cornwall College who beat Anchovy High 2-0 at home.

Cedric Titus beat Muschett High 2-0 to take the runners-up spot in Zone C behind Spot Valley High, who romped to a 4-0 win over Herbert Morrison thanks to three goals from Courtney Chisholm. He has taken his tally to 11 goals.

Petersfield High blanked Godfrey Stewart 3-0 to grab the second place in Zone D with 19 points, two behind Little London High who beat Grange Hill 2-0. Little London have a game in hand against Black River High.

Holmwood Technical beat Knox College 3-0 to win Zone G with 22 points. They have not conceded a goal in their 10 games.

Alston High edged Troy High 1-0 to finish with 21 points, just ahead of Christiana High’s 2-0 after they beat Spalding High 2-1.

St Mary Technical sewed up the top spot in Zone J after a 1-0 win over Oracabessa High to move to 23 points with a game to go with three other teams still in the race for the other spot.

Manchester High completed a perfect first round after three goals from Ajay Chin and two each from Brandon Brown and Kareem Walker took them to an 11-0 thrashing of de Carteret College in Zone F.

Kaheem Parris scored twice to take his tally to 20 goals, leading Dinthill Technical — who are also perfect — to a 4-0 win over Charlemont High in Zone K. Glenmuir High, another team with an unblemished record, beat Denbigh High 2-0 in Zone M.

St Elizabeth Technical High School hammered BB Coke 7-0 in Zone E, while Oneeko Allen scored four times in Munro College’s 5-1 win over Maggotty High.

Yesterday’s results

Zone A

St James 5, Green Pond 2

Cornwall College 2, Anchovy 0

Zone C

Herbert Morrison 0, Spot Valley 4

Cedric Titus 2, Muschett 0

Zone D

Petersfield 3, Godfrey Stewart 0

Grange Hill 0, Little London 2

Mannings School 2, Black River 2

Zone E

BB Coke 0, STETHS 7

Maggotty 1, Munro 5

Zone F

May Day 1, Belair 2

Manchester 11, de Carteret 0

Mile Gully 5, Cross Keys 1

Zone G

Troy 0, Alston 1

Holmwood 3, Knox 0

Spalding 1, Christiana 2

Zone J

Oracabessa 0, St Mary Technical 1

St Mary High 2, Brimmervale 4

Zone K

McGrath 0, Ewarton 1

Dinthill 4, Charlemont 0

Bog Walk 4, Guys Hill 0

Zone L

Fair Prospect 4, Happy Grove 3

Titchfield 1, Horace Clarke 1

Zone M

Denbigh 0, Glenmuir 2

Zone N

Vere Technical 0, Garvey Maceo 1

Central 3, Old Harbour 0

Bustamante 1, Kemps Hill 2

Zone O

Paul Bogle 1, Seaforth 1

Yallahs 0, St Thomas Technical 1