Western Bureau:

In the lead-up to the 2009 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup, defending champions St James High, Munro College, Spaldings High, Lennon High and St Thomas Technical were selected by The Gleaner as the teams to watch in the race for the coveted title.

With the first round of preliminary action in the 12-zone competition now completed, four of The Gleaner's five picks are still among the teams making steady progress and are on course for the inter-zone round, which will feature the top two teams in each zone.

joint leaders

Champions St James High, The Gleaner's pick to retain their title, are joint leaders of Zone A with eleven-time champions Cornwall College, who had a controversial 1-0 win first-round win against them.

However, despite their blemish against Cornwall College, the Pastor Hugh Solomon-coached St James High are still sitting reasonably pretty, having won the other six games they have played.

While surprise team Balaclava has been grabbing much attention in Zone E, The Gleaner's pick, Munro College, are not being over-shadowed. In fact, they seem quite comfortable in second, behind arch-rivals St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), who have 16 points to their 15.

It should be noted that Munro, whose only real slip-up was a 1-0 loss to Lacovia High, have had five wins, one draw and one defeat in their seven games. In addition, they have scored 14 goals and have given up just two.

Lennon unbeaten

Lennon High, the third of The Gleaner's picks, have been justifying their selection in a big way as, ,in addition to being still unbeaten in Zone H, they are now joint leaders of the group with former champions Clarendon College, both on eight points each.

Spaldings, arguably the most dominant of The Gleaner's picks, have been having an excellent season in Zone G, boasting a perfect 100 per cent win record after six games, which gives them maximum 18 points.

St Thomas Technical, the last of The Gleaner's top five picks, failed to advance from Zone L (b) despite losing just one game. In their eight games, they won three, drew four and lost one to complete their fixture with 13 points.