St James High School's defender Sandrae Moore (left) and Cornwall College's Michael Allen get entangled on the ground while battling for possession during Thursday's ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football game between the schools at Jarrett Park. Cornwall College won the game 1-0.- photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau: Champions St James High School, which suffered their first defeat of the 2009 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup season on Thursday to Zone A arch-rival Cornwall College, will be among the teams on show this afternoon when the competition officially enters its return phase, with a full slate of matches, in all 12 competing zones, set to kick off at 3:30 p.m.

St James High, which had two goals disallowed in their 0-1 loss to Cornwall, will play host to the struggling Green Pond, which they defeated 4-0 in the first round.

Still on 12 points after Thursday's loss, St James will now be seeking to peg back Cornwall, which now lead the group standings with maximum 15 points.

"We are disappointed with our loss to Cornwall College but we just have to put that behind us and move on," said Pastor Hugh Solomon, the coach of St James High. "Our overall mission is to successfully defend our title and that has not changed."

In the other Zone A games today, the Cornwall College team, which now has bragging rights for Montego Bay, will meet another city rival in former champions Herbert Morrison (1), which they clipped 3-2 in their first-round clash; and Muschett High, which edged Spot Valley 3-2 in the first round, will be aiming to repeat in their mid-table clash. Both teams are locked on six points.

Over in Zone F, a major showdown is anticipated in the top-of-the-table clash between Bellefield High, with maximum 15 points from their five-game winning streak, and second-place Manchester High, which trail them by three points. In their first-round meeting, Bellefield had a close 2-1 win.

competitive

In the competitive Zone H, another humdinger should be in the offering in the big top-of-the-table showdown between joint leaders Vere Technical and the unbeaten Lennon High, who have played one game less. Fresh from their 2-1 win against the much-vaunted Clarendon College, Vere should be gunning to avenge the first-round 1-3 loss handed them by Lennon.

Zone I should also churn out quite a juicy contest when joint second-place teams Old Harbour High and former champions Glenmuir - both on nine points - seek to break their first-round 0-0 deadlock. Both teams are on a high, with Glenmuir coming off a 6-0 blanking of Central High and Old Harbour flushed with confidence after beating Garvey Maceo 2-0 on Thursday.

In the divided Zone L, where the red-hot Port Antonio High have already copped one of the two qualifying play-off places from group L (a), the battle for the other three slots should be on in earnest. In L (a), second-place Fair Prospect (8) will be aiming to repeat their first-round win against Happy Grove (6), which would pull them closer to the group's second play-off place.

In Zone L (b), where only two points separate the top three teams, the match-up between joint leaders Seaforth and St Thomas Technical - both on 12 points - should take the spotlight. St Thomas won the first-round game 2-0.

Games on

Zone A: Herbert Morrison vs Cornwall College at Bogue, St James vs Green Pond at Jarrett Park, Spot Valley vs Muschett at Spot Valley

Zone B: Anchovy vs Irwin at Nature Village Farms

Zone C: Manning's vs Little London at Manning's, Petersfield vs Godfrey Stewart at Petersfield

Zone D: Brown's Town vs William Knibb at Addison Park, Marcus Garvey vs York Castle at Drax Hall, A'Gallimore vs Ocho Rios at Wilson Shop

Zone E: Lacovia vs Munro at Lacovia, STETHS vs Newell at STETHS, Black River vs Balaclava at Black River

Zone F: deCarteret vs Belair at deCarteret, Bellefield vs Manchester High at Bellefield, Cross Keys vs May Day at Cross Keys

Zone G: Knox College vs Holmwood at Knox College, Christiana vs Edwin Allen at Christiana, Spalding vs Porus at Spalding

Zone H: Denbigh vs Clarendon College at Denbigh, Vere vs Lennon at Vere

Zone I: Garvey Maceo vs Kemps Hill at York Town, Old Harbour vs Glenmuir at Old Harbour, Tacius Golding vs Central at Tacius Golding

Zone J: Ewarton vs Tacky at Ewarton, Bog Walk vs Glengoffe at Bog Walk, Dinthill vs McGrath at Dinthill

Zone K: Islington vs Iona at Clemhards Park, St Mary High vs Brimmervale at Highgate, Oracabessa vs St Mary Tech at Jack's River

Zone L(a): Titchfield vs Port Antonio at Carder Park, Happy Grove vs Fair Prospect at Happy Grove

Zone L (b): Seaforth vs St Thomas Tech at York Oval, Yallahs vs Paul Bogle at Phillips Field