CATHERINE HALL, St James — ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup champions Rusea’s High got their defence off to a brilliant start with a 10-0 swamping of Green Island as the schoolboy football season got underway at the Montego Bay Sports Complex yesterday.

Brian Brown, last season’s Golden Boot winners, picked up where he left off by scoring five times for the champions in the second, 18th, 27th, 29th and 55th minutes.

Substitute Jovan James scored a hat-trick. Anthony Walker, the player who James replaced, also scored, as did Nicodie Haughton.

In contrast to the Rural Area champions, all-island title-holders Jamaica College (JC) were on the receiving end, going down 1-0 to a superior Camperdown team which coach Christopher Bender later described as “just average”.

Ricardo Oldham got the winner for Camperdown when he beat JC goalkeeper Shevon Powell with a powerful shot from just inside the 18-yard box in the 52nd minute.

Camperdown looked the better side against the Dark Blues team which retained just three members of last year’s starting team that won the Manning Cup, Walker Cup and Olivier Shield.

JC settled first and created early chances, with Shevar Henry’s header in the seventh going just high, while Powell juggled a corner in the 14th before clearing it from danger.

JC just managed to keep Camperdown out before the half ended when Powell got to a ball just ahead of Tevin Garnett.

Powell had no hope seven minutes into the second half, however, when Oldham picked up a pass from the right side and had time to tee-up before powering into the goal.

JC tried to come back especially late in the game and should have salvaged a draw when Camperdown goalkeeper Rashaun Patterson had his first mistake of the game, dropping a high ball inside his own area.

But Junior Flemmings and Nicholas Scott both ran past the ball, giving the goalkeeper the chance to retrieve on the second attempt.

In the second game which was affected by a heavy shower 30 minutes into the first half, Rusea’s flooded returnees Green Island to rush atop Zone B.

The many-time winners made their intent known from the 30th second when they hit the crossbar, and the first goal was not far behind when Brown scored his first in the second minute, an easy tap in from a left-sided cross.

He then scored in the 18th and 27th to notch his hat-trick, while Walker scored in the 23rd before Brown made it 5-0 at half-time in the 29th.

Jones made it 6-0 minutes after replacing Walker, while Brown added his fifth, followed by a diving header from Haughton, while James got the last two goals of the match.

Yesterday’s results:

Zone B: Rusea’s High 10 Green Island 0

Zone F: STETHS 5 DeCarteret 0; Balaclava 1, Munro 2; Newell 0 Lacovia0

Zone G: Bellefield 2 Holmwood 0; Spaulding 0 Knox 0; Manchester 4 Mile Gully 0

Zone H: Clarendon 3 Claude McKay 0; Porus 0 Edwin Allen 1; Thompson Town 0 Lennon 1

Zone I: Glenmuir 2 Denbigh 0; Bustamante 0 Kemps Hill 0; Centra 0 Garvey Maceo 9

Zone J: Tacius Golding 1 Ewarton 1; Old Harbour 0 Dinthill 0; McGrath 2 Charlemont 1