Former champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Clarendon College are to meet at STETHS Sports Complex in Santa Cruz in one of four games as the ISSA daCosta Cup quarter-finals get underway this afternoon.

The push for silverware is expected to intensify with only eight teams left in the competition that started in September but was interrupted for about a month after the destruction left by category 5 Hurricane Melissa in late October.

The four rural area semi-finalists — the top two teams in each group — will qualify for the lucrative ISSA President’s Cup. The President’s Cup, scheduled to be contested in January, will also comprise the top four teams from the urban area Manning Cup.

The four teams that fail to advance will drop to the Ben Francis Cup where they will face the winners of the first round.

Aside from the clash at STETHS, many-time champions Cornwall College are to host last year’s finalists McGrath High, while Glenmuir High take on Kemps Hill High in a Clarendon derby, and Dinthill Technical face Christiana High.

STETHS, the current holders of the Ben Francis Cup, have cruised since the end of the first round, winning all six games played by an aggregate scoreline of 17-3. The highlight was the a 7-1 win over Maldon High in the round of 32.

Clarendon College were runners-up in both the round of 32 and the round of 16, edging outgoing last year’s champions Garvey Maceo High on goal-difference to get into the quarter-finals.

The last time the teams met in the daCosta Cup, Clarendon College won by a slender 1-0 margin.

Glenmuir High, the ISSA President’s Cup holders, have been impressive since the start of the play-offs after finishing second in their first-round ground. Only a 2-2 result against Manchester High in the round of 32 blemishes their record since the preliminary stage.

Kemps Hill have proven their resilience all season. After losing their opening games in both play-off groups, to Cornwall College and STETHS, respectively, they bounced back to win their next two games and get into the final eight.

However, Glenmuir High will start favourites to win, especially coming off a big 5-2 spanking of Garvey Maceo to shatter their hope of a title defence.

McGrath High have been to back-to-back finals in the last two seasons. They won the Ben Francis Cup in 2023 and qualified for their first daCosta Cup final last season. No doubt they will be dreaming of accomplishing the ultimate by taking the daCosta Cup.

They will play away to a Cornwall College team that is yet to drop any point at home this season. Cornwall have won their last three games after being beaten by Frome Technical in the Round of 32.

Dinthill Technical have been an enigma all season but have managed to advance from every group and will hope to make use of home advantage against Christiana High.

On paper, Christiana High may be seen as the weakest of the quarter-finalists but can point to their record of easily winning their first-round zone and topping their round of 32 group. They have only lost twice all year season, including a 1-3 loss away to Cornwall College on Tuesday.