MONTEGO BAY, St James — Spot Valley High School took a big step towards qualifying for their first-ever quarter-finals of the ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboys’ football competition yesterday after beating Ben Francis KO finalists Grange Hill 2-0 in their Zone Two game played at Jarrett Park.

Travis Dolphy and Tyshan Hill scored in each half for the Preston Bernard-coached school to move to within touching distance of a top-eight position.

After edging St James High 1-0 on Wednesday, Spot Valley High are leaders on six points, while eliminating Grange Hill who finished the game with nine players after goalkeeper Omario Hendricks and Sheldon Smith were both sent off late in the second half.

Grange Hill are on one point from two games after drawing their first game 0-0 against Frome Technical.

Meanwhile, former champions Clarendon College rebounded from their loss to Manchester High on Wednesday to beat Christiana 3-2 in their game at Kirkvine as Christiana joined Grange Hill as the teams to be eliminated from advancing to the next round.

At Jarrett Park, Spot Valley who were much better organised than on Wednesday, started better than Grange Hill, creating no fewer than three clear scoring chances in the first 15 minutes.

They were rewarded in the 22nd minute when Dolphy headed a cross powerfully past Hendricks from close range to send Spot Valley High in the lead.

Spot Valley should have gone two goals up three minutes later when Kemar Reid got past the defence but Hendricks pulled off a good foot save to keep his team in the game.

Hill made it 2-0 early in the second half when he intercepted a ball just inside the Grange Hill side of the field, raced past two defenders, cutting into the box before beating Hendricks with a fierce shot into the far corner of the goal.

Things got from bad to worst to impossible quickly for Grange Hill when they lost two players in quick succession.

Hendricks was sent off in the 72nd minute after he raced off his line to collide into a group of players including Spot Valley’s Oshane Forbes.

Soon after a frustrated Smith, who was shown a yellow card in the first half, kicked away the ball well after the whistle and was shown a second card killing off any chances of his school even trying to mount a comeback.