Paul Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
CORNWALL COLLEGE retained the Ben Francis Knockout title yesterday after scoring a 3-0 win over Montego Bay rivals St. James High at Jarrett Park.
DeShawn Woolery in the first half and substitute Orlando Coleman and Kirkland Smith in the second were the goal scorers for Cornwall who won their sixth KO trophy and third under coach Dr. Dean Weatherly.
Yesterday's win extended Cornwall's record hold on the 19-year-old trophy as neighbours Rusea's Comprehensive have the second most with four. Clarendon schools Clarendon College and Glenmuir each have three wins while Herbert Morrison have two and Vere one, winning in the first year it was contested in 1982.
The game however failed to live up to expectations and was played at a pedestrian pace for long periods. Both teams looked tentative throughout the but St. James had the better of chances in the first half against a suspect-looking Cornwall defence that gave them a lot of room. St. James' goalkeeper Andre McKnight was outstanding as he brought off some good saves to keep his team competitive until the last nine minutes when they gave up two goals to end their season.
Weatherly praised St. James after the game, saying they took the game to Cornwall especially in the first half, keeping them back on their heels.
His players however stuck to the task he said and he thought it was the quality of his players that made the difference in the end.
St. James' Gaulton Taylor said he was satisfied with the entire season, taking the team furthest it had even gone in three seasons of schoolboy football. He was however disappointed in how the players approached the game and said he thought the team was right in the game until the second goal.
Taylor blamed his team's loss on not putting away chances they created early in the game.
St. James started out the better team and should have scored twice in the first nine minutes after Alton Shaw and Xavier Brown got chances at an empty goal. Shaw had goalkeeper Richard McCallum at his mercy in the eighth minute but lobbed wide. A minute later, Brown got behind the defence but McCallum came off his line in a flash to get to the ball.
