Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
THE FINAL two semi-final places in the 2005 Ben Francis Knockout competition will be decided this afternoon when Cornwall College and Godfrey Stewart square-off in a replay quarter-final round game at Rusea's in Hanover; and Happy Grove battle Old Harbour at Carder Park in Portland.
Champions Glenmuir High School and St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) became the first two semi-finalists on Wednesday when they emerged victorious from their quarter-final games.
STETHS clipped Frome Technical 1-0 at Jarrett Park, in Montego Bay, while Glenmuir blank Spalding 2-0 at Wembley, in Clarendon.
It will be a case of unfinished business in the clash between Cornwall College and Godfrey Stewart, whose original fixtures at Jarrett Park on Wednesday night ended prematurely following a power outage in the 73rd minute of play. Godfrey Stewart were leading 2-1 at the time of the outage.
DISAPPOINTING
"It is a bit disappointing that we have to be playing Cornwall College again because we were on the verge of beating them at Jarrett Park," said Godfrey Stewart's coach Carl Palmer, whose team went unbeaten in Zone C of the daCosta Cup preliminary round before blanking Ocho Rios 2-0 in their first round Ben Francis KO fixture.
"Having seen Cornwall College at Jarrett Park, we are even more confident and ready to take them on again," continued Palmer. "We have not lost a single game in over a year and we are not planning to lose one now."
Despite playing second fiddle in the aborted game, the Cornwall College camp is confident that they will turn the tables on Godfrey Stewart. According to coach Dr. Dean Weatherly, the team recognised where they fell short at Jarrett Park and intend to make the required adjustments.
"We gave them too much room in midfield and it hurt us," said Dr. Weatherley, whose team topped Zone A in the daCosta Cup preliminary round, losing just once. "This time around we intend to shut them down and force them to try other things."
In the aborted game, Godfrey Stewart scored through Josemar Crooks and from the penalty spot through skipper Dwayne Williams. Cornwall College got their lone strike courtesy of a superb effort from Ricardo Edmondson.
PENALISED
In their game, the Old Harbour team, which defeated Islington 6-0 in their first round fixtures, should get the better of Happy Grove, which became the Zone L qualifier after Yallahs High were penalised by ISSA for failing to honour their play-off fixture against them.
After their win against Islington, officials of Old Harbour, which topped Zone J of the daCosta Cup preliminary round, promised that the team would be moving from strength to strength as they were just about peaking.
While Happy Grove must still be smiling with lady luck for Yallahs' indiscretion, which got them into the Ben Francis KO, with their less than impressive four wins and two defeats in the zone games, they will probably need a lot more than luck to contain Old Harbour.
