St James High School's captain, Fabian McCarthy (right), is expected to play a key role for his side against Marcus Garvey at Jarrett Park as the Ben Francis KO competition kicks off today. - photo by adrian frater

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE BEN Francis Cup Knockout, which features the 12 zone winners from the preliminary round of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup, will kick off this afternoon at 3:00 with three of the four games originally scheduled for today.

The fourth game, which should have featured Zone H winner Lennon High against the winners of Zone G, will not be played as a winner is yet to be decided in that zone. Spalding High, who have completed their fixture with 21 points and Edwin Allen, who have 18 points and two outstanding games, are vying for that slot.

In today's games, Zone A kingpins, the unbeaten St James High School, will take on Zone D champions Marcus Garvey at Jarrett Park; surprise Zone E champions Lacovia High will battle their Zone F counterparts Manchester High School at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) while Zone L big guns Paul Bogle will square-off with Zone K winners St Mary Technical.

At Jarrett Park, a keenly-contested game is anticipated between the unbeaten St James High, who will be playing in familiar surroundings, and the Terridane Grant-coached Marcus Garvey Technical, who have been having a relatively decent season, having loss only once in ten games.

Statistics

In terms of statistics, there is very little between St James High and Marcus Garvey. In topping Zone A, St James High, primarily behind top striker Nicholi Barrett, have won 10 games and drawn two, while scoring 36 goals and conceding eight. Marcus Garvey have won eight, drawn one and lost one, scoring 27 goals and giving up eight.

Based on their preliminary record, the unbeaten Lacovia High, who surprisingly upstaged former champions STETHS and Munro College for Zone E honours, should start favourites against a Manchester High team, which suffered preliminary round defeats to DeCarteret and Porus.

In their preliminary games, the rampant Lacova High, which formerly played second fiddle to STETHS and Munro College in the zone, won nine games and drew three, scoring 21 goals and conceding five. For their part, Manchester High won seven, drew one and lost two.

The showdown in the east between Zone L champions Paul Bogle High and Zone K's St Mary Technical could go either way as while both teams have been playing well this season, their form has been indifferent at times.

With nine wins, two draws and two defeats, St Mary Technical should be cautiously optimistic about having a good season. However, the Paul Bogle team, which placed second in section B of the divided Zone L and then went on to top the four-way play-offs with a 3-2 penalty shoot-out win St Thomas Technical, must consider themselves battle hardened.

In total games played, Paul Bogle High have won eight from nine outings, scoring 19 goals and conceding four, while St Mary Technical have had nine wins, two draws and two defeats while scoring 22 goals and conceding seven in their 13 games.