St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) dramatically won the daCosta Cup with an 8-7 penalty shoot-out win over Glenmuir High after battling to a 0-0 draw in normal time at the National Stadium on Saturday.

It was STETHS’ sixth hold on the daCosta Cup following victories in 1974, 1999, 2009, 2013, and 2015 as they ended a 10-year drought.

It was a well-deserved win for a STETHS team that played with 10 men for over 30 minutes, showing great resilience and a welcome joy for a school that was devastated by Hurricane Melissa in October.

It was a keenly contested game between two evenly matched teams. Nobody giving an inch, fighting all the way for the upper hand.

With the half ended 0-0, it was still anybody’s game, but there came a significant moment in the game when STETHS went down to 10 men after Jade Lynch was shown a straight red card by referee Steffon Dewar for a reckless foul.

It meant that STETHS would have to play one man short for over 30 minutes. With the one man extra Glenmuir gained the possession fight as STETHS lay back into a defensive shape hoping to catch Glenmuir on the counter-attack.

But the cracks began to appear in the STETHS back line, and Glenmuir‘s top marksman Orane Watson and top playmaker Dustin Cohen and company couldn’t find the breakthrough despite working their socks off.

Orel Miller got the best chance for Glenmuir and steered his effort agonisingly wide of the gaping goal.

STETHS never looked worried, though, and in the dying moment they ventured forward looking to steal that goal at the death.

With no extra time and the imminent and dreaded penalty shoot-out looming, the decibel noise inside the National Stadium went up in anticipation. It was now a lottery that anyone could win.

STETHS dug in as they saw the shoot-out as their best bet at winning the daCosta Cup, and that they did.

Meanwhile, in the curtain-raiser, Clarendon College edged Cornwall College 2-1 to win the Ben Francis Cup.

It was Clarendon College’s fifth lien on the Ben Francis knockout having previously won in 1989, 1990, 1998 and 2017.

Najay Anderson gave Clarendon College the lead in the 10th minute, but Mekhi Foster pulled Cornwall College levelled five minutes later in the 15th minute.

Substitute Nicholy Forbes found the all-important goal in the 73rd minute as Clarendon College continues to pile up the trophies having won the daCosta Cup four times in the last 11 years.

Orel Miller (left) of Glenmuir High School and Jahvor Lawrence of St Elizabeth Technical High School duel for the ball in the final of the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition at the National Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Clarendon College hoist the trophy after winning the ISSA Ben Francis Cup in a 2-1 result over Cornwall College at the National Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)