SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – A double header at the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) featuring four former winners will highlight Friday’s start of the quarter-finals of the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition.

Defending champions Clarendon College will meet 13-time winners Cornwall College at 1:00pm in a repeat of the 2018 final while Garvey Maceo High will pit their perfect win record against Frome Technical starting two hours later.

Four other former winners will also be in contention as the race for semi-final spots revs up with each team playing three games between Friday and next Saturday, with the winners of the four groups qualifying for the semi-finals set to be played in January.

In addition to Garvey Maceo’s perfect win record, there are four other schools yet to taste defeat – Manning’s School, Manchester High, Christiana High and Dinthill Technical, the losing finalists in 2019 who are yet to concede a goal.

Both Clarendon College and Cornwall College will go into the game on a high and will know that a win in this competitive group will give them the advantage for the other two games.

Clarendon College rebounded from their only loss of the season to Glenmuir High by winning three straight and scoring 22 of their 28 goals in the process to book their place in the second round. The side’s talisman Jaheim Rose has risen to the occasion and scored big goals for his team, none bigger than the one against Glenmuir High last week to get them into the next round and extend the defence of their title

They will face a Cornwall College team that has not conceded a goal in five games and who have been gradually improving with each game after a slow start. Brandon Timberlake leads the scoring for the Cornwall College team but they have had goals from no fewer than five players so far.

Garvey Maceo breezed through the first round, breaking nary a sweat, scoring 22 goals and conceding just two and they will attract a lot of attention against what are expected to be better teams than the ones they faced in the first round.

Cleo Clarke has scored with impunity, including a four-timer against Old Harbour High on Saturday and will lead the Garvey Maceo attack against a Frome Technical team that are coming off a surprising 3-0 loss to Manning’s School in their last game in the first round.

Frome Technical lost twice in the first round, a 1-0 upset by then winless Rusea’s High that snapped a three-game winning start, and will need to rebound from that Friday.

Manning’s School meanwhile will come into their game against Vere Technical at Manchester High on the back of three straight shut-out wins after being held to a draw by Rusea’s High. They are seen by some as favourites to win their zone and Vere Technical could be their biggest threat to making it to the last four for the first time.

Nine-time winners Vere Tech have picked up the pace after a sluggish start with one point after their first two games, scoring 10 goals in their last five, including a 3-3 draw against Foga Road in their final group game.

The Christiana High vs Dinthill Technical game at Drax Hall will pit two unbeaten teams against each other, both with impressive defensive records. Christiana have allowed three goals from six games while the Dinthill Technical goalkeeper is yet to take a ball out of his net, and with the likes of William Knibb and Edwin Allen to come, a win Friday will be crucial to their ambitions.

William Knibb have one loss to spoil their record and face a dangerous Edwin Allen High team that have shown they can be competitive and will fight with their backs to the wall. This game could steal the spotlight if both teams bring their ‘A’ games as both have combined for 44 goals so far.

Mark Lewis has cooled off a bit after a fast start but has nine goals for William Knibb, one less than Richard Henry of Edwin Allen. Conversely, both teams have shown vulnerability at the back and the game will see who can exploit the other team’s defence the most.

Manchester High’s record was gilded by a 12-0 win over Alston High, half of their total, but they were held goal-less twice in the first round, including in the final game against Christiana High when the result would have suited both teams. Their opponents on Friday, McGrath High are only in the quarter-finals after their 9-0 whipping of winless St Mary High saw them edge two other schools on goal-difference.

STETHS won Zone C with some cushion and will start favourites to win Friday and set up a big clash against Garvey Maceo next week while Munro College will hope to shake off back to back losses when they take on Happy Grove at York Oval.

Games on Friday

William Knibb Memorial VS Edwin Allen- Green Pond High 3:00pm

Manning’s School VS Vere Technical- Manchester 3:00pm

STETHS  VS     St Thomas Tech- York Oval 1:00pm

Happy Grove     VS    Munro College- York Oval 3:00pm

Manchester High        VS    McGrath High- Drax Hall 1:00pm

Dinthill Technical       VS    Christiana High- Drax Hall 3:00pm

Clarendon College      VS Cornwall College- STETHS 1:00pm

Garvey Maceo   VS    Frome Technical- STETHS 3:00pm