Adrian Frater, News Editor

Cedric Titus' Vijay Gentles (left) dribbles away from Frome Technical's Ricardo Vassell in yesterday's ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football game at Drax Hall in St Ann. Frome won 1-0. - Photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

Former champions Frome Technical and Dinthill, along with Lennon High and St Thomas Technical all moved within a point of gaining automatic qualification for the quarter-finals of the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football competition after registering good wins in yesterday's rescheduled inter-zone games.

Maximum points

Frome, who are contesting Group One with Ben Francis Cup Knockout champions St James High and former champions Godfrey Stewart, made it maximum six points from two games when they clipped Cedric Titus 1-0 at Drax Hall in St Ann.

In a game, in which their opponents got the better chances but failed to get on the scoresheet, the Godfrey Drummond-coached Frome Technical, which clipped St James High 3-2 in their first round game, snatched victory through a second-half strike by the hard-working Ricardo Munroe.

"Our aim today was to get all three points and while we did not play as well as we expected, the important thing is we got all three points," said Drummond. "All we need to do now to top the group is to avoid defeat in our final game against Godfrey Stewart."

In their Group Six game against Paul Bogle, the Dinthill Technical team, which started their inter-zone campaign with a 4-0 win against Annotto Bay, made it two wins from two starts with a good 2-0 win.

Like Frome Technical in Group One, they only need a draw in their final round game to secure one of the six automatic quarter-final places.

No Fluke

St Thomas Technical, which have been enjoying a decent run this season, showed that their first-round Group Five 2-1 win against Old Harbour was no fluke, as they moved to maximum six points with 1-0 win against Bog Walk. They just need a point to seal a quarter-final berth.

Former champions Glenmuir and Cornwall College, which were among the teams that failed to secure first round wins last Wednesday, kept their hopes alive as they both rolled back in contention with important wins against Annotto Bay High and Grange Hill High.

In their Group Six game at Brancourt in Clarendon, the Glenmuir team, which was surprisingly beaten by Paul Bogle in the first round, secured a good 2-0 win over Annotto Bay, who are now out of contention.

In their game, Cornwall College, which drew 0-0 against Rusea's in their first round Group Two fixture, joined the 'Russians' atop the group standings with four points each

Goals by Jamal Whittaker and Ramon Foster gave them a 2-0 win against Grange Hill at Frome Sports Ground.

Old Harbour, who were surprise first-round losers against St Thomas Technical, rolled back into contention in Group Five, spanking St Mary Technical 4-0 to set up a three-way tie atop the group with St Thomas and Bog Walk. All three teams have three points.