York Castle High school have benefited significantly from their partnership with Mount Pleasant Football Academy which has seen them having one of their best showings in the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup competition in many years.

Such was their performance in the first round that some experts predicted a deep run in the competition for the team.

However, they have found the going tough in the round of 16, losing both their games to date, the latest defeat at the hands of the 2018 champions Clarendon College at their home field at Drax Hall on Wednesday.

Having lost their first game of the round against Frome Technical, it was incumbent upon them to win the second game, but after taking an early lead, York Castle were unable to hold on and lost the match 1-2.

Though the loss comes with the agonizingly reality that their daCosta Cup campaign is effectively over, coach Vannie Clarke praised his boys for the valiant display.

“This group of youngsters, they are very strong, they wanted it. You saw that in the determination, you saw that in the quality of the play, and you definitely saw that in the way that they kept going, all the way through this competition, even up to the last second, we were at it and that speaks volumes to their character,” he said.

Clarke is aware that it will take a lot of mental work to reengage the boys for their final group of 16 match on Saturday, before they turn their attention to chasing silverware in the Ben Francis Cup next week.

“First, we have Rusea’s come Saturday, so we look to that. We want to end this round on a positive note.

“The youngsters will take some getting up. They were very disappointed after their performance in Westmoreland, and it took some work to get them back to the levels, so they could show what they showed today (Wednesday).

“So, we have to go and do that again to prepare them for Saturday and then keep them pointing in the direction that we have another competition that we certainly think we can challenge for,” he noted.

York Castle and Rusea’s High have lost both of their games so far in the round and will be playing for pride and hoping for a strong finish to end their daCosta Cup campaign when they meet at the Colin Miller Complex on Saturday.