Three of last year’s semi-finalists in the JISA/Canopy Insurance National Under-12 Alberga Cup football competition will be joined by a first-timer as the last four teams of the 2024 season were decided on Wednesday, following the playing of the final set of quarter-final group matches.

Defending champions Mona Prep are still in the hunt for back-to-back title success and will be joined in the semi-finals by a trio of hopefuls who will be gunning for their first-ever hold on the coveted title.

Last year’s finalists Hillel Academy are back in the semis, likewise Sts Peter and Paul, with Manchester-based El Instituto De Mandevilla securing their first semi-final berth.

The Alberga Cup competition will take a break for the start of the Henriques Cup knockout competition, which gets underway on Saturday. The Alberga Cup is to resume in early December with Mona facing El Instituto and Hillel Academy playing Sts Peter and Paul Prep in a repeat of last year’s semi-final showdown.

On Wednesday, Mona continued to have their way in the competition and are looking ominous as they gear up to take their title defence into the business end of the campaign after dismissing Glenmuir Prep 8-0 in their Group A contest. It was the biggest win of the match day.

In the other Group A match, Liberty Academy missed out on a semi-final spot after being edged 0-1 by Lannaman’s, who also started the day with a mathematical chance, but in the end were clipped to the best second-place team qualification spot by El Instituto, who had a two-goal difference advantage over the 2022 champions.

El Instituto secured their place with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over St Andrew Prep in Group B, while Hillel secured the top spot in the group with a 3-0 triumph over Wolmer’s Prep.

Group C winners Sts Peter and Paul produced a second-half blitz to end the outside hopes of Hydel with a 3-0 win, while Emmanuel Christian Academy signed out in style with a big 7-1 victory over the American International School of Kingston (AISK).

The Henriques Cup knockout competition will take the spotlight over the next couple weeks, with the competition getting underway with the playing of the first round, which will feature teams ranked ninth to 24th.

The top eight ranked schools will enter the competition in the second round, which is to be contested on Monday.

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

Group A

Mona 8, Glenmuir 0

Lannaman’s 1, Liberty 0

Group B

St Andrew 1, El Instituto 3

Hillel 3, Wolmer’s 0

Group C

Emmanuel 7, AISK 1

Sts Peter and Paul 3, Hydel 0