- PHOTO BY ADRIAN FRATE
Munro College's Hansie McKenzie (right) being challenged by Cornwall College's Francois Anderson (left). Action from Wednesday's daCosta Cup game between the two schools at Jarrett Park. Cornwall College won the game 7-0.
Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
IT SHOULD be a down to the wire affair this afternoon as seven teams still in with a chance of making the semi-final phase of the 2005 ISSA/Pepsi/Jamaica National daCosta Cup make a last bid effort to grab important points in the crucial final round of quarter-final games.
The full fixture of matches reads as follows: Group One: Godfrey Stewart against Cornwall College at the Frome Sports Ground and champions Glenmuir against Munro College at Mile Gully Community Centre. In Group Two, Clarendon College will battle Happy Grove at Brancourt while Mannings will oppose Decarteret College at the Frome Sports Ground.
Except for the big double-header at the Frome Sports Ground, which will see the games being played at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., all the other games are slated for 3:00 p.m. starts.
While all four games could have a significant bearing on which teams qualify for the semi-finals, the much-anticipated match-up between Godfrey Stewart and Cornwall College should take centre stage. This is the fourth meeting between the two teams, which currently have the hottest rivalry in schoolboy football.
In three meetings in the Ben Francis Cup Knock Out, two games ended prematurely - one with Godfrey Stewart leading 2-1 and the other with Cornwall College leading 2-0, while the other resulted in a 2-0 win for Cornwall College.
In their lone meeting in the daCosta Cup, an inter-zone fixture, the teams battled to an exciting 1-1 draw.
MUST-WIN SITUATION FOR CC
While a draw this afternoon would be good enough to send Godfrey Stewart into the semi-finals, Cornwall College have no choice but to win. Technically, they could advance with a draw, but it would require that lowly placed Munro College not only upset Glenmuir, but do so by a wide margin, which one would consider all but totally impossible.
"This is a game that we must win," said Cornwall College's coach Dr. Dean Weatherley, whose team is fresh from Wednesday's 7-0 mauling of Munro College at Jarrett Park. "We know Godfrey Stewart is a good team but we will be going down there with all guns blazing."
For the Godfrey Stewart camp, which is on a high after ending Glemuir's proud 17-game winning streak in their 1-1 draw on Wednesday, this is game is being viewed as payback time for the Ben Francis KO defeat they suffered at the hands of Cornwall College, which incidentally is their only defeat of the season.
"We are confident and ready," said Godfrey Stewart's coach Carl Palmer, who described the mood in his camp as the best it has been all season. "We expect a strong challenge Cornwall College but a strong challenge usually bring out the best in my team."
In Group Two, while Clarendon College (4) need only to avoid defeat against bottom placed Happy Grove (1) to advance to the semi-final, a defeat for either Manning (2) or Decarteret (3) could signal the end of their season. Once Clarendon avoid a defeat against Happy Grove, a draw would be good enough for Decarteret.
