Maldon High’s historic season in the ISSA daCosta Cup came to a premature end on Wednesday as the south St James-based school was forced to make the “very difficult decision” to withdraw after playing one of three games in the round of 16.

The first-time round-of-16 qualifiers were scheduled to face Christiana High in the first game of a double-header at Manchester High when the competition resumed on Saturday but coach Dillon Thelwell told the Jamaica Observer earlier in the week, they were struggling to get players to training after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, nearly a month ago.

As a result of their withdrawal, ISSA has ruled Maldon High’s round-of-16 opening game, a 6-1 loss to Cornwall College, null and void with three teams left in Zone 1.

With the top two teams from each round-of-16 teams qualifying for the quarter-finals and the other two teams going to the Ben Francis Cup, ISSA says the top-ranked team from those failing to get to the daCosta Cup quarter-finals will get a first-round bye in this competition.

Maldon High are one of six schools in western Jamaica that were seriously affected by the hurricane which wreaked havoc in the region, also causing damage to St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Maggotty High, Mannings School, Cornwall College, and William Knibb Memorial.

Thelwell told the Observer on Tuesday that he has not been able to start preparation.

“The turnout has been poor and I have not seen more than seven players at any one time,” he said. “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.”

Additionally, access to the area by road was also compromised with a section of the main road damaged and only pedestrian traffic allowed.

“Preparation has been poor,” Thelwell said. “Most times, we have three or four players showing up on the day. It’s been really crazy after the storm; things have not been going well.”

That means they were also without players for practice games.

After advancing from the first round for the first time-ever last season, Maldon qualified for the second round for the second-straight season, but struggled in the return games in the first round before eventually securing the runners-up spot behind Cornwall College in Zone A.

They then beat Ferncourt High and Knox College to advance to the final 16 for the first time, before being beaten by STETHS in their final round-of-32 game.

THELWELL…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 (Photo: Paul Reid)