Adrian Frater, News Editor

St James High School's goalscorer, Allan Ottey (right), takes on Marcus Garvey's Stephano Ellis in yesterday's Ben Francis Cup KO game at Jarrett Park. St James won 2-1. - Photo by Adrian Frater

WESTERN BUREAU:

ZONE A kingpins St James High School, their Zone E counterparts Lacovia and Zone L champions Paul Bogle High emerged victorious yesterday as action started in the Ben Francis KO with three first-round games in rural Jamaica.

In their game at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay, St James High, courtesy of goals by Allan Ottey and Nicholi Barrett, had to dig deep to score a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Zone D champions Marcus Garvey, who had taken the lead through Mario Donald.

"We should have won the game in the first half but we missed too many chances, but thankfully, we showed enough character to bounce back and win the game," said Pastor Hugh Solomon, the coach of the St James High team. "Unfortunately for us, we lost Ottey (Allan) to a red card that we believe was quite harsh," he said.

Surprise side

In the game at St Elizabeth Technical High School between Lacovia and Zone F champs Manchester High, the Lacovia team, which has been arguably the surprise side of the season, turned in a sterling second-half performance to register a 2-0 win, thanks to goals from Javid Morris and Delagrew Stephenson in the last 15 minutes.

"Our first-half performance was not as good as we had hoped and, to tell the truth, Manchester High played quite well," said Errol White, the coach of Lacovia."However, in the second half we got our act together and came out deserving winners," he said. In the game at York Oval between Zone L champions Paul Bogle and their Zone K counterparts St Mary Technical, the Paul Bogle outfit booked their quarter-final round place with a 2-0 win over their more fancied opponents behind goals by Rafiek Green and Janiel Lee.

Early exchanges

In the game at Jarrett Park, which turned out to be quite contentious at times and was characterised by several yellow cards and the red card to Ottey, St James dominated the early exchanges but fell prey to faulty finishing primarily through Ottey and Barrett.

With the first half ending 0-0, Marcus Garvey gradually began to come into their own early in the second half and they too squandered scoring opportunities. One glaring miss came in the 50th minute when Donald broke free on the edge of the area but lost possession under pressure.

Hasty clearance

However, Donald made amends in the 63rd minute when a hasty clearance by St James' captain Fabian McCarty struck him and then fell before him. He gleefully took possession, sped away and fired home, making the score 1-0.

St James went into all-out attack following Marcus Garvey's goal but faulty finishing continued to let them down. Ottey, Barrett and Ajohn Barker all had clear shots on goal but missed from inside the area.

The Marcus Garvey defence finally cracked in the 79th minute when Ottey won possession just outside the penalty area and powered past two defenders before firing past advancing goalkeeper Davaughn Carter, making the score 1-1 and bringing joy to the team's supporters.

With Marcus Garvey struggling to regain their composure, St James struck again in the 82nd minute. Keniel Kirlew dribbled down the left flank and crossed perfectly for Barrett, who fired home easily, making the final score 2-1.

The competition will continue this afternoon with the final first-round game between Zone H champions Lennon and Zone G's Spalding at Jamalco Sports Club, starting at 3 p.m.