SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Dinthill Technical and Clarendon College booked a date in the final of the ISSA/FLOW Ben Francis Cup knockout competition after narrow wins over Rusea’s High and St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), respectively, in semi-final action yesterday.

In wet and slick conditions, due to light rain, Dinthill beat Rusea’s 1-0 thanks to an 89th minute beauty from the irrepressible Kaheem Parris at St Elizabeth Technical football field.

In the other semi-final at Manchester High, Clarendon College came from behind to clip STETHS 4-2 in extra time. The schools were reduced to 10 players each after red cards were issued against both sides during normal time, but the victors suffered another red card expulsion as Captain Ricardo McIntosh, who netted the fourth and final goal in the last minute of extra time, picked up his second yellow card caution for removing his shirt in his goal celebration.

In Santa Cruz, the St Catherine-based Dinthill outfit had the slightly better of chances during the first period as both teams were culpable of wastefulness.

Rusea’s, based in the western parish of Hanover, did show signs of life and could have gone ahead, but the talismanic Nazime Matalie saw his goal-bound shot charged down by the Dinthill defence.

However, top marksman Parris, a former National Under-17 standout, was a constant threat for Dinthill. And he lit up proceedings just before the half- time break when he bamboozled two defenders and drove to the box before his cross was intercepted by a defender.

Rusea’s seemed the stronger for much of the second stanza, but Dinthill went closest when substitute Oshane Baker headed just high after he connected on a corner kick.

Entertaining end-to-end action ensued, but a lot was left to be desired of the final passing from both teams.

But almost inevitably it was Parris’s wizardry that came to the fore. He picked up a loose ball and glided past the desperate lunge of a defender with consummate ease before lashing a left-footer high into the goal from just inside Rusea’s 18-yard box.

Dinthill Technical Head Coach Curtis Hamilton acknowledged that Parris, who made his national senior team debut in August, was a big difference-maker.

“I give the boys credit for the fight, and we did what we had to do. Parris is special, he’s on 29 goals and he was the man of the moment. We knew we were up against a Rusea’s team that wouldn’t be easy to beat, and tried to get the early goal, but that didn’t come,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Vassel Reynolds, head coach of Rusea’s, was left gutted after his team showed discipline and plenty of spirit against vaunted opponents.

“It was a very good game against a team with the attacking prowess of Dinthill, which has scored over 70 goals. We nullified their attack up to conceding the goal, and we even created a few chances ourselves. I’m just disappointed that it’s a semi-final and to lose in the last few moments of the game,” Reynolds said.

— Sanjay Myers