ST JAMES, Jamaica — Maldon High were forced to withdraw from the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition that is set to restart on Saturday as they were not able to prepare properly for their game against Christiana High in the aftermath of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

Maldon High who had qualified for the Round of 16 for the first time in their history were due to face Christiana High in the first game of a double header at Manchester High on Saturday but coach Dillon Thelwell told Observer Online they had no choice but the make what he said was “a very tough decision”.

Earlier in the week, Thelwell who had guided the south St James based school to their first ever second round qualification from the competitive Zone A, said they were having issues conducting training sessions as a number of the players had been severely impacted by Hurricane Melissa on October 28th.

In an update on Tuesday, Thelwell said he has still not been able to start preparation.

“The turnout has been poor and I have not seen more than seven players at any one time, a number of the boys have lost their homes, have had their homes badly damaged, some have lost their school uniforms or their books were all destroyed,” he explained.

Maldon High had lost their first game in the Round of 16, beaten 6-1 by Cornwall College in their Zone 1 game and was at the bottom of the tables along with William Knibb Memorial, who had lost 3-0 to Christiana High.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association, the organisers of the competition are awaiting official confirmation before making a decision on the outcome of the zone.

— Paul Reid