CATHERINE HALL, St James— Ten – time champions Rusea’s High swept into the final of the ISSA/Flow daCosta Cup schoolboys football final for the first time in six years after whipping Super Cup finalists St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS) 5-2 in the semi-final played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Rusea’s will meet Clarendon College in a repeat of the 2008 final after Clarendon College also had a 5-2 win over Dinthill Technical in the first game of the double-header that saw 14 goals being scored.

Nazime Matalie scored twice in the second half as Rusea’s High, who last won the title in 2011, ended STETHS’ string of appearances in the finals at six, and handed them their worst loss since 2006 when they were beaten 6-1 by Clarendon College in an inter-zone game.

Rusea’s came into the game with question marks over their heads after back-to-back losses to Dinthill Technical in the semi-final of the Ben Francis KO and Kingston College in the first round of the Flow Super Cup.

The latter loss had prompted an unprecedented walk-out of fans at the Montego Bay Sports Complex two weeks ago, as the Hanover based- school sunk to a 1-4 defeat.

On the other hand, STETHS were coming off a stunning comeback win over Calabar High in the semi-final of the Flow Super Cup, rallying from 0-2 down to score twice in the last 15 minutes of regulation, before winning on penalty kicks to qualify for Saturday’s final.

On Tuesday, Rusea’s High went behind in the 21st minute when a header from Alex Thompson gave STETHS the lead. But it seemed the goal awoke Rusea’s High from their stupor as they scored the next five goals in a brilliant comeback.

Shawn Bradford, who sat out the entire first round of the season with an injury, drew Rusea’s level in the 22nd minute, when an attempted clearance from the STETHS goalkeeper Kenroy Wallace rebounded off him and flew into the unguarded goal.

Leonardo Fogarthy then gave Rusea’s the lead in the 34th minute when he finished off a move after Daniel Reid beat two defenders on the right and played the ball in his path.

Matalie got the first of his two early in the second half when he headed past Wallace to make the score 3-1.

STETHS was reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute and Rusea’s made full use of the advantage almost immediately when Reid beat Wallace after a smart solo effort. Matalie scored his second in the 81st minute.

Tahjae Green got a second goal for STETHS late in the game, but by then the contest was over.