MARTHA BRAE, Trelawny — William Knibb Memorial High and Christiana High School completed the list of automatic qualifiers for the second round of the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup football competition, after scoring wins in Tuesday’s round of rescheduled games.

Koran Henriques scored a hat-trick for William Knibb who came from a goal down to beat Brown’s Town High 5-1 and take the third automatic place in Zone C with 18 points, behind Cedric Titus (25 points) and Ocho Rios High (20 points).

Christiana High beat Alphansus Davis High 2-0 to finish second in Zone G with 18 points.

William Knibb Memorial and Christiana High joined the other 27 schools that had previously booked their automatic spots, and the three best third-placed teams will be added for the 32 slots in the second round.

While he was grateful for the win, William Knibb Memorial Coach Dewight Jeremiah told the Jamaica Observer he was confident that “our fate was always in our hands and we could have been second, had Ocho Rios High now won their game as well”.

William Knibb were in danger of not making it to the play-offs in Zone C after they lost points for using an ineligible player in a first-round win over Cedric Titus.

They, however, rebounded with a last-gasp win over York Castle to book their fourth slot and — despite losing to Cedric Titus in a play-off game — rebounded to beat Ocho Rios High and Brown’s Town.

On Monday, Brown’s Town took the lead in the 14th minute when Tayeshaun Spence scored from the penalty spot.

William Knibb hit back with a double from Henriques, capitalising on a mistake by the Brown’s Town goalkeeper. Devonte Jones, in the 29th minute as the custodian, mistimed a high-bouncing ball that fell from his hands behind him, giving the William Knibb player an unprotected goal to shoot into from about 14 yards.

He then gave the home team the lead when he scored from close range in the 43rd minute, completing his hat-trick early in the second half, while Amari-Christopher Reid and Theonjae Bennett added goals.

Meanwhile, Dinthill Technical became the fourth school to complete their first-round schedule with a perfect record after they were awarded points from their game against Enid Bennett High.

Manchester High won all 10 games in Zone F, defending champions Clarendon College won all eight games in Zone H, and Happy Grove High won all six games in Zone N.