DaCosta Cup teams jostle for remaining quarter-finals spots
SIX schools, including two-time defending champions Clarendon College, will be seeking four remaining spots to the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/Wata daCosta Cup quarter-finals when the round of 16 comes to an end this afternoon.
The first four spots were decided on Wednesday, with Munro College from Zone 2, Glenmuir High from Zone 3, and Central High and McGrath High from Zone 4, progressing after scoring back-to-back victories.
St Elizabeth Technical High School, Kemps Hill High and Garvey Maceo High from Zone 1; Frome Technical and Clarendon College from Zone 2; and Ocho Rios High and Dinthill Technical from Zone 3, will go into these sets of games with hopes of extending their run in the daCosta Cup.
Central High and McGrath High are to meet at Foga Road to decide the winner of the zone.
Both are on six points but are separated by goal difference, with Central having a one-goal advantage.
Alphansus Davis High, Cornwall College, Happy Grove High, Denbigh High and Manchester High are all out of contention in the daCosta Cup. They will go into the first round of the Ben Francis Cup, along with the other teams that failed to advance in the daCosta Cup.
Clarendon College will hope to extend their dream of becoming only the third school to win at least three straight daCosta Cup titles, joining Munro College and Vere Technical. But Clarendon must beat Cornwall College and hope Frome Technical lose to early qualifiers Munro College.
Munro College lead with six points and are assured of playing in the quarter-finals for the first time in 17 years. Frome Technical, on four points, only need a draw to reach the last eight.
Zone 1 is wide open with three teams still in contention, and only a win will guarantee progress to the quarter-finals. St Elizabeth Technical and Kemps Hill High, who will meet at Wembley Centre of Excellence, are tied on four points each. They have two points more than Garvey Maceo who will play Alphansus Davis. The Alphansus Davis team has conceded 11 goals in just two games.
A draw at Wembley could see both STETHS and Kemps Hill going through but a big win by Garvey Maceo would propel them atop the group, with all three teams finishing on five points.
Former champions Dinthill Technical will be hoping to extend their record of making it to the quarter-finals for the last 12 years but they must beat Ocho Rios High at Drax Hall.
Both teams are on three points, after wins over Happy Grove High, with Ocho Rios ahead on goal difference.