St James High School's Alwayne Barrett (left) and Cornwall College's Odaine Edwards challenge for the ball during last Thursday's ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football game at Jarrett Park. Cornwall College won 1-0. - photo by Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

With zone leaders Cornwall College inactive today, champions St James High School could join them atop the standings in Zone A of the 2009 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup should they repeat their first round win against Spot Valley.

St James High lost their unbeaten record to Cornwall a week ago.

However, they rebounded with a 5-0 spanking of Green Pond High on Saturday to be second in the group on 15 points, three behind the Steve Bucknor-coached Cornwall, who have maximum 18 points from six matches.

Coming out on top

"We will be looking to take maximum three points from this game," said Pastor Hugh Solomon, coach of St James. "We are still looking at coming out on top in this zone."

In the competitive Zone D, an exciting round of games is on offering, headed by the top-of-the-table clash between group leaders Marcus Garvey Technical (16) and second-place William Knibb High School (13) at Martha Brae.

It promises to be an intriguing affair, as the teams are also battling for the group's lone Ben Francis Knockout slot.

In their first-round showdown, Marcus Garvey, who have five wins and a draw in six games, won 2-1 against William Knibb who have four wins, one draw and two defeats from seven games.

In Zone J, which has been reasonably competitive, leaders Dinthill Technical High (17) and second-place Bog Walk (16) are facing tricky assignments, playing away to Glengoffe High and Charle-mont High, respectively.

In the first round, Dinthill could only manage a 2-2 draw with Glengoffe whereas Bog Walk blanked Charlemont 2-0.

With the unbeaten Annotto Bay High - maximum 18 points from their six consecutive wins - seemingly a safe bet to win Zone K, the other teams are playing catch-up with joint second-place teams Brimmer-vale (11) and St Mary High (11), and St Mary Technical (9) and Oracabessa High (9) locked in a tight battle for the other spot to the inter-zone round.

Divided zone l

In the divided Zone L, where Port Antonio Technical (19) and Fair Prospect High (11) have already sealed the two group places for the four-team play-off to decide the zone's two inter-zone qualifiers, the attention will be focused on group L (b), which is interestingly poised.

With Paul Bogle High, Seaforth High and St Thomas Technical all tied atop the standings on 13 points each, the games featuring Morant Bay (5) against Paul Bogle and Yallahs (0) against Seaforth should be closely watched.

Games on

Zone A: Spot Valley vs St. James High at Spot Valley, Green Pond vs Herbert Morrison at Cornwall Courts

Zone D: Ocho Rios vs Cedric Titus at Drax Hall, York Castle vs A'Gallimore at York Castle, Willam Knibb vs Marcus Garvey at Martha Brae

Zone J: Charlemont vs Ewarton at Charlemont at 1:30 p.m., Glengoffe vs Dinthill at Charlemont at 3:30 p.m., McGrath vs Ewarton at McGrath

Zone K: St Mary Tech vs Annotto Bay at Richmond Prison Farm, Brimmervale vs Oracabessa at Clembhards Park, Iona vs St Mary High at Rio Nuevo

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

Zone L (b): Morant Bay vs Paul Bogle at York Sports Club, Yallahs vs Seaforth at Phillips Field