Ben Francis Cup semis on at STETHS Sports Complex today
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Edwin Allen High School and Manchester High School will seek to stay on course for their first major football title today when they meet in one semi-final of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Ben Francis Cup KO at the St Elizabeth Technical High School Sports Complex, set to start at 1:00 pm.
The finalists in the knockout will be decided today following both semi-finals with former champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Frome Technical meeting in the second game at 3:15 pm.
The winners will meet in Friday’s final, the curtain-riser for the daCosta Cup final between Garvey Maceo and Manning’s School.
All four teams qualified for today’s semi-finals following wins in the quarter-finals last Thursday.
Manchester High had the biggest win of the quarter-finals with a 3-0 margin over Christiana and will hope to get the better of Edwin Allen High, who took a long time to get into a rhythm in their 2-1 win over former champions Cornwall College.
This will be the closest the Edwin Allen team would have come to winning a title at this level, but to beat Manchester High they must find the form that saw them advance from a competitive first-round group.
Jaheim Harris and Jaheem Thomas, who both scored for Edwin Allen on Thursday, and Richard Henry can be a handful for any defence but will face a tough Manchester High backline.
Manchester High will consider themselves unlucky in the quarter-finals and after their easy win over Christiana High in the first round, will hope the likes of Shaquile Campbell, Raheem Walters and Denzil Lee will be able to get the better of Edwin Allen.
STETHS, who won six titles between 2010 and 2015, are on a roll — unbeaten in their last seven games, and just missing out on a place in the daCosta Cup and Champions Cup semi-finals — will start favourites against an inconsistent Frome Technical team.
On Thursday STETHS got by Vere Technical 2-0 while Frome Technical laboured to a 1-0 win over and equally inconsistent Munro College, but if they can find the form that saw them win the first five games of the season, this could make the game competitive.
Frome Technical, who won the Ben Francis KO in 2006, will be seeking to avenge their 6-0 thrashing from STETHS in the daCosta Cup quarter-final round but will have to lift their game to have any chance for an upset win.
Today’s games
Edwin Allen vs Manchester High @ STETHS @ 1:00 pm
STETHS vs Frome Technical @ STETHS @ 3:15 pm
