GRANGE HILL, Westmoreland — The success of Grange Hill High School in the ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboys’ football competition did not come about by luck, according to headmaster Errol Stewart.

Grange Hill qualified for the semi-final of the competition on Saturday after a 1-0 upset win over Paul Bogle High saw them finish second in their quarter-final Group Two to defending champions Rusea’s High on six points.

The Westmoreland-based school who were qualifying for the quarterfinals for only the second time in their existence and first time in 17 years, will now face Ben Francis KO champions St Elizabeth Technical High in the semifinals on Saturday.

They are the only one of the four teams left standing who has never won a major schoolboy football title.

Minutes after Saturday’s win that extended Grange Hill’s season further than they have ever been before, Stewart told the Observer that “while it could be argued that the input of all stakeholders including the administration, board, staff and the community have made significant contributions to the team’s success” it was the discipline and attitude of the boys that made the most telling impact.

“It is the structure of discipline that we have in the football programme that has been the most fulfilling,” Stewart said.

The no-nonsense stance of the school, he said, had resulted in the “sanctioning” of one player Robert Minto, a regular starter who has missed the team’s last three games and there are doubts that he would be taken back for the semifinals.

The principal, who is a past head of the Physical Education Department, said there were no complaints from the staff about any of the boys on the team this season, also pointing to the fact that of the boys who have sat CXCs so far, they have about 30 subjects between them.

The school came close to pulling the plug on the football programme at Grange Hill after the 2006 season when four players and then coach Linval ‘Palla’ Wilson were expelled during an Inter-zone game at Drax Hall against Ocho Rios High.

Stewart, who was head of the PE Department then, withdrew all the players who were involved in the fracas and relieved Wilson of his head coaching duties.

This season Grange Hill have continuously defied the odds to get to the last four. After a good start they fell behind both Mannings School and Petersfield High in Zone E before a last game win over Mannings gave them the zone honours.

Draws against Lennon High and Manchester High had all but ruled them out of contention in the Inter-zone round before a big 4-1 win over Munro College in their final game coupled with Lennon’s 2-1 win over Manchester, saw them win their group and advanced.

They then lost their opening quarter-final game to Rusea’s High and were down 1-0 to Petersfield midday the second half in their game at Frome before Dale Brown scored twice to extend their lifeline before Saturday’s miraculous win over Paul Bogle High.