By Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter 
Munro's Toric Robinson. - File
WESTERN BUREAU:
LONG-TIME antagonists Cornwall College and Munro College will meet this afternoon at Jarrett Park in the 21st final of the ISSA Ben Francis Knockout competition for rural area high schools.
Munro will be playing in their first Ben Francis final while Cornwall will be seeking to extend their record number of titles to seven in the game that is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m.
Cornwall won in 1983, 1984 and 1991 under the guidance of Steve Bucknor and again in 1995, 2000 and 2001 under present coach Dr. Dean Weatherly.
Munro last won a title at this stage 39 years ago, in 1964, when they also claimed the last of their seven daCosta Cup titles.
Munro lost 4-0 in the daCosta Cup final in 2000 to Cornwall at Jarrett Park in what were sloppy conditions caused by torrential rains earlier in the day and which also forced a delay to the start of the game.
Despite the Ben Francis title being seen by some schools as a consolation compared to the more prestigious daCosta Cup, both coaches told The Gleaner yesterday that they will be going all out to end the season on a high.
Munro dropped out of the daCosta Cup at the quarter-final stage where they managed only two points while Cornwall lost in the semi-finals to Frome Technical last weekend.
Both teams will also be at full strength for the third meeting between the schools this season.
Munro had taken the pre-season Jackson Shield clash 2-0 while the teams drew 1-1 when they met earlier this month at Frome in the daCosta Cup quarter-finals.
Munro's coach, Neil Harrison, describes his squad as "a quality team with championship qualities" and said it was "unlucky" not to be in the daCosta Cup final.
Harrison said that in addition to the four components that go into the making of a good team (physical, technical, psychological and tactical), he had learned that they needed a fifth, "luck".
Munro have not beaten Cornwall at this level in at least 15 years but Harrison said "there must be a first time and (today) could be that time".
Cornwall's Weatherly, who attended sixth form at Munro and played daCosta Cup for both schools, said his team was confident going into the game and was hoping to "end the season on a high to make up for the disappointment of losing in the daCosta Cup semi-finals to Frome".
While he said he would have a full squad to choose from, there were some concerns surrounding the fitness of goalkeeper Tedroy Watson who sat out Wednesday's 2-1 win over Seaforth in the semi-finals but said that reserve Milton Robinson was "more than competent to take over".
TODAY'S FINAL
Cornwall College vs Munro College - Jarrett Park - 2:45 p.m.
