POND SIDE, Hanover — Defending champions Rusea’s High from Zone B and St Mary Technical from Zone D are the first schools to secure their places in the Inter-zone round of the ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup football competition after scoring wins in yesterday’s return-round games,

Rusea’s beat Merlene Ottey High 4-0 at Pondside for their ninth straight win to move to 27 points and while mathematically they can be caught by Anchovy High for second place, it is unlikely their massive goal difference will be matched.

Bryan Brown scored a penalty to boost his goals tally to 21 goals, while Anthony Walker, Demar Dhoman and Junel McDonald also scored for Rusea’s.

St Mary Technical booked their place with a 3-1 win over Tacky High to move to 16 points at the top of Zone D and need two more points from two games to take zone honours.

Cedric Titus scored their second 1-0 win over Ocho Rios for their seventh straight win in Zone C and are a point away from taking the Ben Francis KO spot.

Also in Zone C, Albert Town scored their first win of the season with a 4-1 victory over Browns Town High.

Meanwhile, Edwin Allen could join the qualifiers today if they can beat last year’s beaten finalists Lennon High in Zone H.

The unbeaten Edwin Allen who lead with 25 points from nine games, won their first round game 1-0 and are yet to concede a goal.

Yesterday, Old Harbour High scored an important 3-0 win over Tacius Golding in their key Zone J game to increase their lead to six points.

Old Harbour, who had failed to win after their first three games, have conceded just one goal over the period.

Dinthill moved into second place on 13 points with a 3-1 win over Bog Walk after the Ewarton vs McGrath game was rained out.

Javaughn Robinson scored seven times for St Thomas Technical, who romped to a 9-0 win over Robert Lightbourne High in Zone L.

Mannings went back to the top of Zone E with 17 points after beating Maud McLeod 4-0 and Grange Hill were upset 1-0 by Petersfield High, avenging a first-round 2-0 loss.

Zone A leaders St James High drew for the second straight outing when they were held 0-0 by Irwin High at Jarrett Park, while Cornwall College moved into second place with a 2-0 win over William Knibb in Martha Brae.

Green Pond inched past Spot Valley High on goal difference for third place with a 4-0 blanking of Muschett High.

Meanwhile, the race for the two places from Zone G continued to be close after the top three teams all scored wins.

Leaders Manchester High beat Holmwood 2-0 to move to 21 points; Spaulding stayed in second place on 17 points by beating Bellefield 3-2, while Knox are in third place with 15 points after a 3-0 win over Christiana High.