Adrian Frater, News Editor WESTERN BUREAU:
MANY-TIME champions Rusea's High School became the first qualifiers for the quarter-final round of the ISSA/Pepsi/JN daCosta Cup yesterday when a double strike by Adre Atkinson gave them a 2-0 win over Cedric Titus in the feature game of a doubleheader at the Elletson Wakeland Youth Centre in Falmouth.
By virtue of their win, Rusea's, who won their first-round game, are now on an unassailable six points atop Group One - four points clear of second-placed Petersfield with just one round of games to play. Petersfield played to a 2-2 draw against William Knibb in the opening game of the doubleheader.
"It is nice to be back in the quarter-final round after being absent for a few years," said Rusea's coach, Anthony 'Follies' Williams.
"This is the stage where you usual begin to see the best of Rusea's so I am quite optimistic that this is going to be a wonderful season for us."
Over in Group Two, newly-crowned Ben Francis Cup champions Frome Technical, who have taken on the mantle as favourites to win the rural double were given a scare in the feature game of the doubleheader as they had to dig deep to come up with a 2-2 draw with Ocho Rios. The result has left both teams locked on top of the standings with four points going into the final round.
Grange Hill bounce back
In the opening game at Frome, Grange Hill bounced back from their first-round loss against Ocho Rios with a 2-1 win against Herbert Morrison to be on three points going into their final-round game against Frome. The defeat for Herbert Morrison, which loss their first round game to Frome, has knocked them out of contention.
In Group Three, Spaldings took over sole leadership of the group following their 2-2 draw with Munro College in the opening game at St. Elizabeth High School (STETHS), which lifts them to four points. In the group's other game, Manchester High blanked Denbigh 2-0 to join them in second-place on three points each.
Clarendon shot to the top of the Group Four standings when they clipped Decarteret 1-0 in the feature game at Brooks Park. With six points and just one round of matches to go, the Clarendon team can only be caught by STETHS (3), who opened their account in the feature game on their home ground with a 3-1 win against Holmwood.
In Group Five, Glenmuir and Bog Walk both made it two wins from two starts to be joint group leaders going into their top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday. Glenmuir hammered Tacky 7-0 while Bog Walk blanked Port Antonio 2-0.
Glenmuir High School took over the lead in Group Six in commanding style, whipping Oracabessa 9-0 in the curtainraiser in the Dinthill High
School doubleheader. In the second game, Titchfield took over second place in the group, blanking Charlemont 2-0 to move to five points.
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
Manchester High 2 Denbigh 0; Grange Hill 2 Herbert Morrison 1; Munro 2 Spalding 2; Petersfield 2 William Knibb 2; Bog Walk 2 Port Antonio 0; Garvey Maceo 9 Oracabessa 0; Clarendon College 1 Decarteret 0; Glenmuir 7 Tacky 0; Rusea's 2 Cedric Titus 0, Frome 2 Ocho Rios 2; Titchfield 2 Charlemont 0; STETHS 3 Holmwood 1.
