Rusea’s meet STETHS in daCosta semis
Ten time champions Rusea’s High School will carry the hopes of western Jamaica when the semi-finals of the ISSA/ Flow daCosta Cup get underway later this month, after they completed a perfect quarter-final round last weekend.
Rusea’s High, who won the last of their 10 titles in 2011, topped Group Two of the quarterfinals with maximum nine points. The Lucea, Hanover team was well ahead of outgoing champions Cornwall College and Lennon High, who ended on four points each; and St Mary Technical, who, in their first venture into the quarterfinals, failed to score a point, losing all three games.
Cornwall College and St James High qualified for the first round of the Ben Francis knock-out and were scheduled to play St Elizabeth Technical and Dinthill Technical yesterday.
Three other western-based schools — Spot Valley High, Little London and Frome Technical — qualified for the Ben Francis quarterfinals, all failing to advance.
Meanwhile in the daCosta Cup, Rusea’s High will play Group Three winners St Elizabeth Technical in one semi-final, while two other former champions Clarendon College, who won Group One, and Dinthill Technical who won Group Four, will face off in the other game for a place in the December 2 final at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.
The hiring of coach Vassell Reynolds seems to have made the difference in Rusea’s getting over the hump. Before this season they managed to get past the second round only once in the last six years and made it to the Flow Super Cup just once — last year when they were beaten on penalties by Cornwall College in the quarterfinals.
This year Rusea’s won Zone B by two points ahead of Frome Technical, but it was not a smooth ride as they drew three of their 10 games before getting a rude awakening in the second round that was played as a two-way tie for the first time, losing the first game to Browns Town High 1-0 in Montego Bay.
They atoned in the second game, winning on penalty kicks at Drax Hall, before coming from a goal down at half time to beat a wasteful Cornwall College 2-1 in their opening game in the quarterfinals.
Wins over Lennon High and St Mary Technical then paved the way for them to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time since 2011, and they will hope the season will end with them holding the daCosta Cup title.
