DaCosta Cup top four showdown

Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

The narrowed-down challenge for the rural ISSA/Pepsi/JN daCosta Cup football title enters the crucial penultimate stage with play-to-the-finish semi-final showdowns this afternoon.

Frome Technical, the Ben Francis Cup KO champions, are walking wounded and doubting their chase for the double ahead of a revenge match-up against Clarendon College, the team they beat on penalties to win the earlier crown. The venue is St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS).

The intensity will be no different at Brancourt in Clarendon where Portland's Titchfield, feeling slighted for having to travel for another key fixture on their opponents' home ground, tackle Glenmuir who are keen to restore their sheen after slip- ups that cost them the crown last season and two losses along the way this year.

With the exception of Frome, whose only blip came in the inter-zone round against Rusea's (1-2), losing twice is a common factor among the semi-finalists, along with the 3:00 p.m. starting time to facilitate extra-time, and penalties, if necessary, should there be a tied finish.

On the eve of the matches, a confident boom rang out from all but the western quarter where Frome are dogged with injuries to seven of its starting players.

"Right now as we speak, seven of our players are nursing serious injuries," Frome's coach Boysie Nicholson told The Gleaner yesterday. "I really don't know how we stand tomorrow as it relates to fielding a good team and getting a place in the final. It's very doubtful at this moment."

Numbered among the casualties are his key players Delano Rankine, a national under-20 midfielder, defender Paul Graham, national under-17 striker Obrian Woodbine, who is their top scorer and Sedane McCreath, their second leading scorer.

Despite the problems, Frome, in the semis for the third time in the past four seasons, are not ready to roll over and die.

Hoping for the best

"We're hoping for the best. The fact that we've played them already, we know what they're capable of doing ... We'll be giving it our best," Nicholson said.

Clarendon will report in an unsympathetic mode.

Kevin 'Sensi' Williams, the coach of the Chapelton school which last qualified for the final, and won, in 1998, says avenging the Ben Francis Cup final loss " ... has definitely motivated my team.

"All our players are ready and we're ready to go. Best of luck for my opponents. I have so much respect to their team."

He added: "We're of the view that on any given day, they'll cause problems, but we'll try to nullify that. We have some players of our own who on their day they will cause problems so it strikes a balance."

Williams, a former midfield general for Hazard United, listed those players as Netfa Stewart, Damarley Samuels, captain Adrian Wilson and Kedon Wynter.

Glenmuir and Titchfield are booming with confidence.

"Titchfield I think is a fairly good team. They have an excellent striker in Orgill (Dever) ... but we're not going let that detract us from how we play," remarked long-time national youth coach Patrick 'Jackie' Walters of Glenmuir.

They clipped Clarendon 1-0 in their last game and Walters says that has made a huge difference. Their major scorer is James Thomas with 17 goals, while Trevol Smith, Christopher Calder and Matthew Ashman have supported well with six apiece.

Titchfield have never won the cup and Andrew Edwards, their coach for the last six years, listed reasons that have incensed their desire.

"This is the school's 220th anniversary and from as early as January, this is one of the things we've been targeting to celebrate this occasion. It's really a big motivation, it's history in the reckoning for these boys because they would also be trailblazers for the school and other schools from as far as Trelawny to St. Thomas, as no school between these parishes has ever won the daCosta Cup."

Not winning continues to affect the 1982 and 2003 finalists with away schedules and Edwards, whose key scorers are Dever Orgill (11 goals) and Darian Johnson, says this has left them with mixed feelings.

"There's a real sense of excitement and desire to do well and the confidence is real high and amid that confidence is a feeling that we've not been dealt a fair hand in that we've already played two Clarendon schools at Brancourt and over the years, we've always had to be going there to play them in the semi-finals and it seems ISSA is putting more emphasis on money, than the perception of fair play."

"I don't think it will affect the team greatly because we were already psyched up for this type of situation. The boys are not daunted ? in nine games since 2002 we've only lost twice at Brancourt."