Cornwall College and St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), the two most successful football teams in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association Ben Francis Cup, are to meet at Llandilo Community Centre in one of four quarter-final games.

Thursday’s games will involve the first-round winners — Clarendon College, Manchester High, Cornwall College and Denbigh High — and teams that failed to get past the daCosta Cup quarter-final stage which ended on Saturday’s climatic final set of games.

STETHS and Munro College just failed to get into the semi-finals of the daCosta Cup and the first round of the ISSA Champions Cup, by the narrowest of margins. Central High and last season’s Ben Francis Cup finalists Frome Technical will also join them.

Central High and Clarendon College are to meet at Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon, while Frome Technical and Manchester High are to clash at STETHS Sports Complex in Santra Cruz and Munro College and Denbigh High are to lock horns at Manchester High in Mandeville.

Cornwall College have claimed the Ben Francis Cup a record seven times, one more than STETHS, who won all the titles between 2010 and 2015. Both teams are in the competition for a fourth-straight season.

The game is a repeat of last year’s quarter-finals which STETHS won in a seven-goal thriller in Santa Cruz 4-3 in regular time. It was their second win over Cornwall College in the space of two weeks after a prior 3-2 triumph in a daCosta Cup contest.

Last week, Cornwall College survived a thrilling penalty shoot-out to defeat Happy Grove High after the teams ended 1-1 in regular time at Drax Hall in St Ann. STETHS will have to pick themselves up after being beaten 2-5 by visitors Glenmuir High in a daCosta Cup encounter on Saturday.

Frome Technical had been flying high this season until they got to the daCosta Cup quarter-finals. At that stage they lost for the first time all season and ended up losing all three games in the round. They are winless in four-straight matches.

Manchester High got into the quarter-finals of the Ben Francis Cup after getting by Dinthill Technical 5-4 on penalties after they had played out a 2-2 draw in regulation time. They are still seeking their first-ever title at this level.

Manchester, who lost in the 2009 Ben Francis Cup final to Glenmuir High, will hope to at least go one round better than last year when they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners McGrath High.

Central High have not lost to 2023 daCosta Cup winners Clarendon College in their two previous meetings this season. They won 1-0 in their opening encounter and played to a 0-0 result in the second. They could go into today’s game with a psychological edge.

Central High drew their first two games in the quarter-finals of the daCosta Cup and then lost to Munro College on Saturday. Clarendon College used a young team for their first round 3-1 win over Kemps Hill last week.

But this all Clarendon clash is expected to be more difficult for Clarendon College who won the last of their four Ben Francis Cup titles in 2017. The coaching staff could be forced to reinstate the regular players if they hope to advance.

Munro College must rebound quickly from a disappointing exit from the daCosta Cup as they face ambitious Denbigh High who are still seeking their first-ever qualification to a semi-final at this level.

Munro have not won a title at the Under-19 level since 1964 and had high hopes for this season before a big loss to Garvey Maceo in the daCosta Cup put a massive dent in their ambitions.

Denbigh High, who boast a win over Clarendon College in the first round, are enjoying one of their best seasons in years. They eliminated Alphansus Davis High last week and will be gunning for another win.

— Paul A Reid

THURSDAY’S GAMES

Central vs Clarendon @ Wembley Centre of Excellence

Frome vs Manchester @ STETHS Sports Complex

STETHS vs Cornwall @ Llandilo Community Centre

Munro vs Denbigh @ Manchester High

Games set to start 3:00 pm