Frome lead qualifiers into quarter-final round

Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:

BEN FRANCIS KO Cup champions Frome Technical High School, behind a 1-0 win over Grange Hill in their Westmoreland derby at the Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland, were among the six teams that joined early qualifiers Rusea's in the quarter-final round of the ISSA/Pepsi/JN daCosta Cup following yesterday's final round of inter-zone games.

Frome, who got their lone goal from leading striker Sedane McCreath, finished atop the competition's Group One with seven points, which means that they are still on course to win the rural double. Ocho Rios, who came into the final round challenging Frome for zonal honours, fell by the wayside as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Herbert Morrison, resulting in them finishing their fixtures with five points.

"It was a rather tough game for us today because we came in knowing we had to win," said a relieved Boysie Nicholson, the coach of Frome. "We basically did what we needed to do, which was to win the game and that is good enough for me."

Among the other qualifiers were beaten Ben Francis Cup finalists Clarendon College, who got more than the one point they needed to top Group Four by clipping Holmwood Technical 1-0. Consequently, St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), who had a mathematical chance of catching them, bowed out of contention despite scoring an impressive 3-0 win over DeCarteret.

Spaldings fall short

Denbigh High, who came into yesterday's round trailing Spaldings by a point, shot to the top of the group and a place in the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Spaldings, who saw their excellent season come to an abrupt end as their final tally of four points fell way short of the requirement for one of the two best second-place finishers.

In Group Five, Glenmuir once again demonstrated their dominance, clipping Bog Walk 1-0 to complete their fixture with a 100 per cent win record after earlier wins against Happy Grove (2-1) and Tacky (7-0). However, Bog Walk, who finished their fixtures with six points and a healthy +6 goal difference also advanced as one of the two best second-place finishers. Like Glenmuir in Group Five, Titchfield also completed their fixture in Group Six with a perfect record as their 4-0 blanking of Oracabessa meant that they had won their three inter-zone games to finish with maximum nine points.

They had earlier beaten Charlemont 2-0 and Garvey Maceo 2-1. Also, like Bog Walk in Group Five, Garvey Maceo, who completed their fixtures with six points and a healthy +9 goal difference, also qualified as one of the two best second-place finishers.

The inter-zone round will end this afternoon with a rescheduled game between Group One contenders William Knibb High School and Cedric Titus at the Elletson Wakeland Youth Centre in Falmouth. That game will not have a bearing on the quarter-final round as both teams are out of contention.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

Petersfield 1 Rusea's 0, Glenmuir 1 Bog Walk 0, Munro 2 Manchester High 0, Frome 1 Grange Hill 0, Herbert Morrison 1 Ocho Rios 1, Denbigh 2 Spaldings 0, Clarendon College 1 Holmwood 0, Tacky 1 Port Antonio 1, Titchhield 4 Oracabessa 0, STETHS 3 Decarteret 0, Garvey Maceo 2 Charlemont 1.