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Paul Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

Ace Manning's School striker Melvin Blair scored twice to lead his resurgent team to a 4-0 surprise win over the previously unbeaten Grange Hill in Zone D action of the 2013 ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup yesterday at the Belle Isle Community Centre.

Blair, who scored in the first minute of play, scored his team's third in the 39th minute of play. Shemar Muirhead also found the back of the net in the 35th minute, as Manning's doubled their advantage.

Second-half substitute Tevin Daley scored the fourth in the 76th, as Manning's went joint second in the zone on seven points - the same as Godfrey Stewart, who punished Knockalva Technical 5-1 in their contest.

LACKED PURPOSE

Grange Hill coach Dane Warren watched as his team lacked purpose and conviction in the first half, as they surrendered early in the contest to the spirited Manning's, who were fresh off Saturday's 7-0 mauling of Knockalva, who sits bottom in the standings on a single point.

The scored read 3-0 at half-time for Manning's forcing Grange Hill to chase the game in search of a goal.

They came close in minute 54, when midfielder Sheldon Smith drove his shot towards goal, but the Manning's goalkeeper Kareem Wedderburn smothered the ball at his near-post.

The home side never got any closer and before they knew it, they were four down and staring down their first defeat of the competition, as Daley worked his magic on the right flank then beat Kevin Vickers, the Grange Hill keeper, at his near post.

In Zone B, former champions Rusea's defeated Cambridge High 3-1 to move into second place on eight points, while Green Island, who were idle yesterday remain on six points, as Frome lead with 10 points.

St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) edged Newell 3-2 to go clear in Zone E on 13 points, two clear of Munro, which has 11 points.

Cedric Titus are staking a claim with yet another victory in Zone I, dismissing York Castle 4-0, while in Zone N, Kemps Hill and Central battled to a 1-1 scoreline.

Yesterday's results

Zone B

Cambridge 1, Rusea's 3

Zone D

Grange Hill 0, Manning's 4

Zone E

Newell 2, STETHS 3

Zone I

Cedric Titus 4, York Castle High 0

Zone N

Central High 1, Kemps Hill 1

Just one inter-zone place remains

daCosta Cup

BY PAUL A REID Observer writer

Sunday, October 13, 2013

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MONTEGO BAY, St James — All but one Inter-Zone spot was filled on yesterday's dramatic final day of scheduled games in the return-round of the ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup football competition.

While Green Island High and B B Coke celebrated a first-ever qualification, it was close but no luck for a number of teams, including Holmwood Technical and Spot Valley High, who were both beaten in their final games.

The 32nd and final qualifier will be known tomorrow when St Thomas Technical face Seaforth High in Zone O who need only a point to join zone winners Paul Bogle High.

Also on Monday the final Ben Francis qualifier will be known after Marcus Garvey Technical and Cedric Titus High meet in a Zone I game at Drax Hall.

Green Pond High will not have to wait to know their fate after they celebrated their first ever Inter-Zone qualification by outscoring St James High 3-2 at Jarrett Park to take Zone A honours over the former champions.

William Knibb Memorial rose to the occasion to spank Spot Valley High 3-0 in Martha Brae to take Zone C honours ahead of early qualifiers Muschett on goal difference.

Green Island beat Irwin High 3-0 to confirm their place behind Zone B winners Rusea's High, who were 5-1 winners over Cambridge with Tavan Barnes scoring twice.

Frome Technical will advance from Zone B as one of the best third-placed teams with an average of 2.0.

Former champions Godfrey Stewart will also contest the Ben Francis KO after their rain-affected 4-0 win over Knockalva Technical, edging last year's losing finalists Grange Hill, who were held 1-1 by Mannings School.

St Elizabeth Technical will go in search of a fourth-straight Ben Francis KO title after topping Zone E on goal difference over Munro after a 5-0 win over Newell High; Munro edged Lacovia 1-0 as both schools ended on 26 points each.

Needing a win to stay in contention in Zone G, Holmwood were beaten 1-0 by Christiana, who topped the zone, while Spalding took the other place with a 7-0 win over Knox.

Defending daCosta Cup champions Glenmuir warmed up for the Ben Francis KO with their biggest win of the season, 5-1, over Bustamante High in Zone M.

Clarendon College had their perfect run snapped as they lost 0-1 to Lennon High, who took the second place ahead of Edwin Allen High on go

Read more: jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Just-one-inter-zone-place-remains

Muschett, Frome surprise teams to D'Cup quarter-finals

PAUL A REID Observer writer

Friday, November 08, 2013

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MONTEGO BAY, St James — First-time qualifiers Muschett High and former champions Frome Technical High, who had advanced as one of the best third-placed teams, are among the surprise qualifiers for the quarter-finals of the ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup schoolboy football competition after yesterday's dramatic final round of the Inter-zone round.

At least 15 schools went into the final set of games with hopes of advancing, but with just the winner of each of the eight zones advancing, it took tiebreakers to decide at least two of the qualifiers.

Muschett High and Frome Technical both won their zones on the second tie breaker after finishing tied with at least one other school on points and goal difference. Muschett won Zone Two by edging former champions St James High after both schools finished on the same number of points and goal difference, while Frome Technical continued their run after winning Zone Seven by the slimmest of margins ahead of Paul Bogle High and last year's winners Glenmuir High, after all three finished on six points each.

It was also close going in three other zones where the qualifiers advanced after beating the second-placed team by one point.

The zone winners who will advance to the quarter-finals that start on Saturday are Green Island High, Muschett High, Ben Francis Knockout champions St Elizabeth Technical, Manchester High, Marcus Garvey Technical, Port Antonio High, Frome Technical and Garvey Maceo.

Muschett High, who are being coached by Pastor Hugh Solomon who had led St James High to four straight semi-finals and the double in 2008, beat Rusea's High 2-1 at Jarrett Park to finish on seven points, the same number earned by St James High who edged Godfrey Stewart High 1-0 at Frome. Both schools had a goal difference of two.

The Trelawny school that qualified for the Inter-zone round for the first time ever, however, had scored one more goal than St James High — five to four to get the nod.

Nickoy Anderson scored once in either half for Muschett, while Donovan McKenzie had drawn the winless Rusea's level at half-time.

Frome Technical, a semi-final qualifier last year but were handed a lifeline after finishing third in Zone B in the first round, took the qualifying spot from Zone Seven on goal difference after three schools finished tied on six points, including Glenmuir High and Paul Bogle High.The Westmoreland school, who beat Paul Bogle High 2-1 yesterday, however, finished with a goal difference of four, the same as Paul Bogle. But their eight goals score, including five against Vere Technical, gave them the edge over Glenmuir who scored six goals, including four against Vere yesterday.

Green Island High advanced to the last-eight for the first time in 17 years, but only after a bizarre 5-4 win over out-of-contention Green Pond at Jarrett Park.

Leaton Galloway and Shane Sterling scored two goals each for Green Island, including one in time added on for stoppages as two mistakes by the Hanover school almost cost them a place in the top eight.

Green Pond went 2-0 up after six minutes through Kashief Brown and Romaine Lewis, but Green Island came back to lead 3-2 at half-time with goals from Sterling in the 23rd minute, Leaton Galloway in the 40th and 15 year-old Linford Galloway in the 41st.

A mistake by the Green Island goalkeeper Junior Robinson two minutes into the second half allowed Green Pond to level the scores at 3-3 after he misplayed a ball from Green Pond's Jerome Haughton and the ball rolled over his boots and into the goal.

Leaton Galloway then produced an individual bit of magic in the 73rd minute, dribbling from his own half and beating three defenders before powering the ball into the Green Pond goal to bring his team level once more. But a needless foul in his own penalty area in the 86th minute led to Robinson scoring to make the scores 4-4.

Green Island finally got the winner in time added on when the Green Pond goalkeeper and defenders failed to get the ball out of their penalty area and Sterling punched it across the line.

At the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium, Grange Hill beat 10-man William Knibb Memorial 3-1, but finished with six points, just one short.

Read more: jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Muschett--Frome-surprise-teams-to-D-Cup-quarter-finals

DCup quarters kick off today

BY PAUL A REID Observer writer

Saturday, November 09, 2013

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MONTEGO BAY, St James — Ben Francis Cup Knockout finalists St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and Manchester High will start what is expected to be a path to the semi-finals of the ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup football competition when the quarter-finals kick off today with four games.

STETHS and Marcus Garvey Technical, two of three teams that had perfect win records in the Inter-zone round, will face each other at the St Elizabeth Technical Sports Complex, while Manchester High travel to Montego Bay to face first-time qualifiers Muschett High in the second game of a double header at Jarrett Park.

Green Island and Frome Technical will meet in what should be an interesting game in the first match at Jarrett Park, while Port Antonio, who scored 15 goals in the previous round in their three wins, will face Garvey Maceo at Jamalco.

The eight teams have been placed in two groups of four teams each and the top two from each zone will advance to the semi-finals.

Except for two draws against Munro College in the first round, STETHS have won every other game played and look on course for their first rural area double.

Marcus Garvey will be the next team on the conveyer line, but the St Ann school will come into the game with a solid defensive record of giving up just six goals in 13 games played.

They will, however, face a striker of the calibre of Khesanio Hall for the first time this season and will hope to be the first team to stop the striker, who has scored 28 goals in 13 daCosta Cup games played, netting in every game his team has contested so far this season.

Manchester High will face a Muschett team that while they are new to this level of football, have shown a fighting spirit that has seen them defy the odds so far.

Muschett's coach Hugh Solomon has been there repeatedly with St James High and has quality players in Zidane Francis, Garel Gooden and Nickoy Anderson.

In one of the most unlikely quarter-final match-ups, Frome Technical and Green Island High, who met twice in the first round, could be in the running for a semi-final place this time next week.

Port Antonio are the dark horses in the competition and after sailing through the Inter-zone round, cannot be discounted, especially against a Garvey Maceo team that managed to score just three goals in three Inter-zone games.


Read more: jamaicaobserver.com/sport/DCup-quarters-kick-off-today_15415235#ixzz2k9pFbNBr

Frome hold STETHS

Published: Friday | November 15, 2013 0 Comments

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

St Elizabeth Technical High School's (STETHS) bid to add the 2013 daCosta Cup title to their Ben Francis KO crown hit a snag yesterday when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Frome Technical High School in their Group One quarter-final round fixture at the Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland.

By virtue of that result, STETHS, Green Island and Frome Technical are now all in with a shot at the two semi-final places going into tomorrow's final round quarter-final games. STETHS and Green Island, who are locked at four points, will square off in one game, while Frome, who have two points, will battle out of contention Marcus Garvey Technical High School.

Interestingly, based on the outcome of tomorrow's games, STETHS, Green Island and Frome Technical could all complete their fixtures on five points each, leaving goal difference to decide which two teams will advance to the semi-final.

Following yesterday's game, which saw the amazing purple patch of STETHS' prolific striker Khesanio Hall coming to an end after scoring in 17 consecutive games, the team's coach, Omar 'Rambo' Wedderburn, acknow-ledged that they could not afford another slip-up in tomorrow's crucial decider against Green Island.

"I am not thinking about the cup (daCosta Cup) at this time ... . I am thinking about Saturday's game," said Wedderburn. "It is a game that we have to win, so all our focus will be on winning that game."

Green Island's coach Marvin Quarrie, who knows that any win bigger than 1-0 will seal his team's place in the semi-finals, was quite pleased with yesterday's result.

"We came out stuck to our game plan and while we didn't win, I thought we played well," said Quarrie. "Come Saturday, we will be going all out for maximum points against Marcus Garvey because our dream is to play in this year's final."

Yesterday's game, which was originally slated for Wednesday but was rained out, was played on a rain-drenched surface. However, both teams played with a great deal of purpose and intensity and with more luck, both could have come away victorious.

Garvey Maceo waltz into daCosta Cup final

Published: Saturday | November 23, 2013 0 Comments


Paul Clarke, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

The skies opened up minutes before kick-off and again mildly midway the second half, but nothing could stop Garvey Maceo High's march into the final of the 2013 Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA)/LIME daCosta Cup final, as they powered to a 2-0 win over Frome Technical at the STETHS Sports Complex in yesterday's semi-final.

They will now await this afternoon's result from the second semi-final between the undisputed title favourites St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and 1995 semi-finalists Port Antonio High.

The final will be staged on November 30 at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

A 43rd-minute goal by team captain Ishmael Currie and a 75th-minute strike by midfielder Ryan Scott, condemned Frome to yet another semi-final loss, having fallen at the same stage in last year's competition.

"We had a plan and we stuck to it. It is just a wonderful feeling to be in the final," said coach Lenworth Gordon after the final whistle was blown.

Garvey Maceo, winners in 2007, were in a no-nonsense mood, raiding the Frome goal area consistently and forcing goalkeeper Omeally Perrin to work overtime to keep his school in the game.

That was not to be, as the team, known as the 'Cubans', urged on by Currie, who put his stamp on proceedings with a series of defence-splitting passes, including an assist on Scott's strike.

Sent clear on the right flank, Scott took two touches of the ball before unleashing a torrid shot from an acute angle that gave Perrin absolutely no chance as the ball crashed into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The first half was totally dominated by the Clarendon-based school, and it remained practically the same in the second stanza, although Frome made a fight of it. They were, however, without much punch in the final third, as their talisman Jermain Clarke played below his usual standard. In today's second semi-final, Port Antonio High will be aiming to surprise STETHS at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

STETHS are unbeaten this season but after topping Zone L in the preliminary stage and then running up an impressive nine points from three inter-zone round matches, Port Antonio certainly should not be taken lightly.

"We have goals coming from all different parts of the pitch for us, and that is a great sign," reasoned Port Antonio head coach Carl Brissett.

"We will be going there to play our football and that, I think, is important. My players are ready to play and I am sure they will give of their best against STETHS," he added.

STETHS, meanwhile, remain the only unbeaten team in the competition and have been free-scoring all season long with Khesanio Hall netting 35 goals so far. The talented striker was drafted into the senior Reggae Boyz team for the recent home international friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, coming on late in the second half for his debut.

He, among others, has seen to it that STETHS push for another title having won the Ben Francis Cup earlier, and are sure to put the Port Antonio defence under a tremendous amount of pressure.

STETHS romp to daCosta Cup title - Garvey Maceo whipped 4-1 in fina

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Published: Sunday | December 1, 2013 0 Comments


Paul Clarke, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau:

The Third time was the charm for the Omar Wedderburn-coached St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) team, who showed class and poise in a dismissive performance that saw them lifting the coveted ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup title in a 4-1 romp over Garvey Maceo High at the Montego Bay Sports Complex yesterday.

Two early goals from the the in-form Javon James gave the winners control of the match. The striker pounced with the game barely under way, silencing the vociferous Garvey Maceo supporters with the game's opening goal in the third minute. His second, and that of STETHS, came four minutes later when he scored in the seventh minute.

The 2-0 lead was cut in half when Milton Green netted for Garvey Maceo in the 11th minute to set up the thrilling finale to the rural area schoolboy season. It was the closest 'The Cubans' came, as STETHS had too much quality in the end.

STRAIGHT RED

The third goal came from a penalty kick after defender Ownis Thompson of Garvey Maceo was issued a straight red for deliberately handling the ball to stop what looked like a certain goal from a corner kick.

The competition's leading scorer, Khesanio Hall, sent goalkeeper Rajay Robinson the wrong way for a 3-1 lead in the 40th minute. Then, in time added on for injuries, STETHS's Keano Williams left no doubt where the trophy would spend the next year, when he booted past Robinson to cap one of the most memorable daCosta Cup runs in recent history, as STETHS went unbeaten to land a fourth title.

"This year, we came as the champion horse and we displayed that today with this win," said winning coach Wedderburn.

"This is what a final must be like," he added. "STETHS showed that we are the big team," he said.

It was a sweet win for STETHS as they finally buried the ghost of the past two years where they failed to win the title after making the final.

They will now hunt the triple crown of local schoolboy football, when they tackle Manning Cup heroes Jamaica College in the Olivier Shield, the symbol of all-island supremacy, over two legs.

Garvey Maceo were just a little overmatched as the STETHS juggernaut went to work early and that seemed to have knocked the stuffing out of the players, although they fought hard and came very close twice in the match to scoring more than the lone goal.

Captain Ishmael Currie slammed his shot against the crossbar in the first half, and they again went close when a shot from inside the area crashed against the upright midway the second half, as they went in search for goals. But by then, it was clear there were little or no way back into the contest.

"This means so much to school, the players, and all associated with this team. I am happy for the players. They delivered what we failed to do for two years. I am extremely happy," declared Wedderburn.