MONTEGO BAY, St James — The race for places in the semi-finals of the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition will kick off today with former champions Cornwall College and Munro College hosting quarter-final Group A games, both set to kick off at 3:00 pm.

Cornwall College, who topped Zone 1 of the Round-of-16, will host giant-killers Denbigh High in Montego Bay, while Munro College, who won Zone 4, hosts Kemps Hill High.

Two more games are set for Wednesday and four on Saturday with the round being completed next week with games set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The top two teams from each of the two zones will qualify for the semi-finals set for Tuesday, December 1, with the final set to be decided on December 11.

After a sluggish start, Cornwall College have changed gears and have been on a roll, winning their last four games, including all three in the previous round by a 14-0 aggregate, getting past Garvey Maceo 5-0 on Saturday.

The 12-time former champions should be back to full strength after they had three starters sitting out the win over Garvey Maceo, who were red-carded for their parts in an ugly brawl against Frome Technical on Thursday.

Denbigh High have been on a mission this season and have taken some big scalps, all away from home, and will not be daunted in their quest for a first trip to the semi-finals.

Denbigh High knocked St Elizabeth Technical and Munro College out of the Ben Francis Cup and ended Clarendon College’s interest in the daCosta Cup on Saturday, beating them 1-0 to avenge their loss on penalties in the Ben Francis Cup.

The Christopher Carney-coached team rebounded from a loss to Dinthill Technical to win back-to-back games by a 1-0 scoreline to finish second to Lacovia High, on goal-difference, in the Round-of-16 group.

Lashawn Barnaby has been the trump card for Denbigh High but he will face a Cornwall College defence that has given up two goals in their last five outings.

Meanwhile, Shakeem Gibson, Mekhi Foster and Demarco Finnikin have scored important goals for Cornwall College during their current run and will hope to continue their good scoring run.

At Munro College, the home team will be full of confidence as they seek to go all the way for the first time since 1964 and especially after failing to get out of the first round last season.

After a come-from-behind 1-1 draw against McGrath High, they rebounded with a 4-0 thrashing of Central High on Saturday with the red-hot Kajaye Williams leading the team with a hat-trick.

Kemps Hill High will be looking to get back to the semi-finals and after only getting into the final eight by the proverbial ‘skin of the teeth’, a fifth tie-break after they were locked up with Manchester High on statistics, will hope to make the best of their second chance.

Kemps Hill scored four goals in the previous round, three against outgoing champions St Elizabeth Technical on Saturday, but it is their defence that will be tested today against Munro College, who scored nine goals across their three games.

Tuesday’s games (3:00 pm)

Cornwall College vs Denbigh High at Cornwall College

Munro College vs Kemps Hill at Munro College

SBF central.