The start of the ISSA Ben Francis Knockout for rural area high school teams has been pushed back by a day to accommodate several rescheduled games tomorrow.

The inclement weather that affected the island recently and caused several postponements, has also resulted in several zones not been completed on Saturday’s scheduled first day of the return round.

The Ben Francis KO was due to start Wednesday, but will now start on Thursday with four games and will see the winners of Zones L, I, F and A who drew byes, joining the fray in Saturday’s quarter-finals.

Competitions Officer for ISSA, George Forbes, told the Observer yesterday that efforts would be made to play the “more important games Tuesday” in an effort to complete the 12 qualifiers.

Nine schools have confirmed their places in the Ben Francis competition so far. They are St James High, Rusea’s High, Marcus Garvey Technical, St Mary Technical, Mannings School, St Elizabeth Technical, Manchester High, holders Glenmuir High and Paul Bogle High.

The winners of Zones H, J and K are still to be decided.

Meanwhile, the other schools that have advanced to the Inter-zone round so far are Spot Valley High, Brown Town High, St Mary High, Grange Hill, Munro College, Charlemont, Old Harbour and St Thomas Technical.