Leaders try to consolidate position
FROME, Westmoreland — Teams, led by the three ballers who scored wins in Saturday’s opening round, will seek to consolidate their positions to make a run at the
semi-finals of the ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup football competition as the quarter-finals continue with four games today.
Ben Francis Cup Knockout champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) who are seeking their first double, first-time qualifiers Muschett
High and Garvey Maceo High were winners on Saturday and another win today would put them in the drivers’ seat for the final four.
The top two teams from each of the two groups will advance to the semi-finals and after the close races in the previous round, none of the teams want to leave anything to chance.
At least four of the eight teams that survived the Inter-zone round, advanced by the slimmest of margins, on tie-breakers by goal difference or more goals scored.
STETHS, who are coming off a 1-0 victory over Marcus Garvey Technical, travel to the Frome Sports Complex to face Frome Technical, who gave up a last-minute penalty against Green Island and had to settle for a draw in their game.
It took a Khesanio Hall goal to give STETHS three points on their own field on Saturday and the coaching staff will hope it won’t have to come down to that again today. Up to yesterday there were doubts whether Hall would play as he has been invited to the Reggae Boyz team that will play against Trinidad and Tobago in the first of a two-way friendly international in Montego Bay on Friday.
If he does play there will be no prize for guessing that Frome’s coach Marvin Quarrie is willing to play 10 against 10 and try to mark Hall out of the game as they did with Green Island’s Leaton Galloway on Saturday.
Hall has scored in all 17 games his team has played so far this season and has scored seven times since the start of the Inter-zone round, well ahead of his teammates, with the next best having just two goals.
Frome, who are seeking to get back to the semi-finals, are seeking to avenge their loss to STETHS in the semi-finals last year and will hope Jermaine Clarke and Shadane Anderson can get them the goals they would need to get their quest back on track. Also in the group Marcus Garvey and Green Island will be desperate for a win when they meet at Drax Hall.
It could be Marcus Garvey’s solid defence against the potent Green Island attack, that is, if the Hanover school can get into gear. On some days they look likely to score on almost every attack, but struggled on Saturday against a well-organised Frome team.
Team of the moment Muschett High, who came out of nowhere to beat fancied Manchester High on Saturday, will go to Carder Park full of confidence against Port Antonio High.
