Rural area teams seeking football titles this season will face their first major hurdle today in the first round of the ISSA/Flow Ben Francis Cup Knockout, which also serves as a qualifier for the lucrative Flow Super Cup set to start next week.

Four games are on the schedule, all set to start at 2:30 pm, but the clashes between St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and outgoing daCosta Cup champions Cornwall College in Santa Cruz, and Clarendon College against the high-octane Manchester High at Juici Field could take the spotlight.

Rusea’s High meet Holmwood Technical at Jarrett Park, while Dinthill Technical will host St James High in Linstead.

The winners will advance to Friday’s semi-finals.

The top two from each of the four groups in the quarter-finals of the daCosta Cup secured a spot in the Ben Francis KO, which saw the numbers doubled from the four that qualified in the last two seasons.

Cornwall College, the dethroned daCosta Cup champions, and three others who just missed continuing in the daCosta Cup will have a chance today of upsetting the daCosta Cup semi-finalists and staking a claim on a title.

On the other hand, the group winners will be seeking to prove their qualification to the daCosta Cup semi-finals was no fluke.

Along with STETHS, who won six-straight titles between 2010 and 2015, St James High, Clarendon College and Rusea’s are the former winners of the Ben Francis KO. Manchester High, Holmwood Technical and Dinthill Technical are all seeking their first hold.

The game at St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex will be a repeat of last year’s daCosta Cup final that Cornwall College won 2-0 to cap a perfect season, winning all 18 games in their rural area campaign.

After a shaky patch during the first round, STETHS have steadied their ship and won their last nine games dating back to the return round of Zone E. After reaching the semi-finals for nine-straight years it could be argued they are accustomed to getting the job done at this time of the season.

At Juici Field, Clarendon College are the only team without a blemish, winning 15-straight games in the daCosta Cup. They will face a Manchester High team that has failed to score in just one game. Their only blemish was a 0-2 loss at Dinthill Technical in the quarter-finals of the daCosta Cup.

Clarendon College, who dropped out of all three competitions at the semi-final stage last season, appear to be coming into their own at the right time, and signed off the qualification to the semi-finals of the daCosta Cup with a 3-1 win over a sound St James High team on Saturday.

Former national Under 17 player Nique Daley was the main architect of that win, scoring all three goals.

On Saturday, Manchester High responded to their loss with a 7-0 spanking of Frome Technical who had nothing to play for.

—Paul A Reid