Petersfield High seek first senior football title
PETERSFIELD High School will be seeking their first senior football title tomorrow when they tackle Charlemont High in the Inter-Secondary Schools Sport Association (ISSA)/Wata Ben Francis Knockout at Juici Field in Clarendon, set to start at 3:00pm.
Despite failing to win a game in the quarter-finals of the more prestigious daCosta Cup, Petersfield rebounded well in the Ben Francis KO and will start favourites to beat Charlemont High who are also having their best season.
Both schools would normally not be in a position to play for a title in past seasons, but the change of the qualification standards this year by the organisers, ISSA, allowed the teams that finish third and fourth in their quarter-final zones, to play for Ben Francis.
Petersfield High managed a solitary goal in the quarter-finals, finishing at the foot of the table in Group 3, but then beat St James High 4-0 in the first round of the Ben Francis KO before dispatching Port Antonio High 3-0 in the semi-finals played last week.
They will get back striker Ruel Miller who sat out the semis after picking up a red card against St James High, and together with Khamali Burley and Shewayne Barton, should deliver the school’s first major football title.
Charlemont High, the big story of the rural football competition, sizzled in the first round by holding powerhouse Dinthill Technical to 2-2 draws on both occasions they met, but then fizzled in the quarter-finals, losing to Cornwall College and Garvey Maceo High.
In the Ben Francis KO they dismissed Maggotty High 4-0 in the first round then ground out a 1-0 win over former champions Lennon High in the semi-finals.