Defending champions Kingston College, Jamaica College and Campion College are through to the quarter-finals of the ISSA/Burger King Urban Under-14 competition, while another four schools have secured safe passage in the Mighty Malt-sponsored Under-16 league.

Among the U-16s, defending champions St Andrew Technical (STATHS), St George’s College, Kingston College and Mona High are through to the quarters after claiming maximum points from their two games in the second round.

Kingston College’s U-14s marched into the last eight with a close 1-0 victory on the road against Vauxhall, moving to six points and at the top of Group 2, with Calabar and Hillel playing out a 1-1 draw which left both teams with work to do going into the last match of the round on Thursday. Calabar (-3 goal difference) will play Vauxhall, looking for a high-scoring victory, while Hillel will travel to KC hoping to avoid defeat in what should be a tough contest.

Campion College and JC will meet on Thursday to decide Group 4 honours after both recorded comfortable wins in their matches on Monday, moving to six points each. Campion brushed aside Dunoon 3-0 while JC made light work of Camperdown, winning 4-0.

Excelsior’s 3-0 win over Jose Marti also gave them a second-straight win in Group 3 while St Andrew Technical (STATHS) stayed alive with a 2-1 win over St Catherine, leaving both teams on three points heading into Thursday’s round of matches which will see STATHS travel to the already-eliminated Jose Marti, and St Catherine hosting Excelsior.

Group 1 was blown wide open after Eltham edged Holy Trinity 1-0 at home to join Wolmer’s on four points at the top of the table. Wolmer’s hammered Greater Portmore 15-0 but will have their work cut out for thrm against Holy Trinity (3 points) in their final game on Thursday, with Eltham expected to make light work of Greater Portmore in their next outing.

In the Mighty Malt Under-16 competition the Marcel Gayle-coached St George’s College came out on top in a thrilling Group 3 contest against Wolmer’s Boys’, winning 4-3 at Mico, and will play St Jago on Thursday knowing that their campaign will continue beyond this week.

Wolmer’s will travel to Hillel Academy with both teams knowing a win will likely send them through to the next round.

STATHS eased into the next round with a comfortable 4-0 win over Haile Selassie in Group 1 to stamp their quarter-final ticket, and will next tackle Excelsior in a top-of-the table clash and repeat of last season’s final. With St Catherine playing the pointless Haile Selassie in the other match in the group, Excelsior will be desperate for at least a draw to ensure that they join STATHS in the next round.

The business is all settled in Group 2 after KC and Mona secured respective consecutive wins to both qualify for the last eight. Mona beat Waterford 4-1 while KC hammered Greater Portmore 7-0.

Contrastingly, there is still everything to play for in Group 4 where Calabar holds the edge in terms of points secured — six. However, with a potentially tricky away match away to Eltham (three points) to come, and with Jamaica College (three points) playing at home to cellar dwellers Jose Marti, the boys from Red Hills Road know very well that nothing is guaranteed.

Marcel Gayle, coach of St George’s College’s under-16 team. (Photo: Observer file)