Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH THE Ben Francis KO title already safely in their grasp, reigning triple schoolboy football champions Glenmuir will be taking aim at their second title this afternoon when they play away to St. Thomas Technical in a first-round, Group Four inter-zone daCosta Cup game at York Oval in St. Thomas.
In the second of the two scheduled games in Group Four, Islington High, who made a speedy exit from the Ben Francis KO, will take on Bog Walk at Brimmervale in a game they are favoured to win.
The full fixture for the other scheduled games is as follows: Group One - Godfrey Stewart vs Cedric Titus at Frome and Grange Hill vs Cornwall College at Rusea's. Group Two - Ocho Rios vs Mannings at Drax Hall. The group's second game between Herbert Morrison and Frome has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Group Three - Clarendon College vs St. Elizabeth Technical at Brancourt and Spaldings vs Manchester High at Mile Gully. Group Four - Christiana vs Decarteret at Manchester High and Denbigh vs Munro at Wembley. Group Five - Happy Grove vs Vere Technical at Carder Park and Tacky vs Old Harbour at Dinthill.
With their impressive 100 per cent win record in all competitions this season, the red-hot Glenmuir team, which slammed Cornwall College 4-1 in last Saturday's Ben Francis KO final, is expected to make this afternoon an embarrassing one for the St. Thomas Technical.
With players such as Carnell Learmond, Travol Smith, Shaun Francis and James Thomas and their intimidating record of 80 goals for and two against, winning seems a foregone conclusion.
"Our focus is on repeating our clean sweep of all the titles as we did last year, so we are really looking past the individual games," said Glenmuir's assistant coach, Warren Simpson, following the team's Ben Francis KO success. "The players understand what is expected of them and we expect them to deliver."
ENTHRALLING CONTEST
The game between Cornwall College and Grange Hill should be quite an enthralling contest, especially as the Montego Bay which was weakened by injuries in Ben Francis KO defeat to Glenmuir reports in its best form to battle the team which emerged runners-up in Zone B of the daCosta Cup preliminary round behind Frome Technical.
"Having seen what Glenmuir had to offer, we are confident that we are a good enough team to beat them to the daCosta Cup title," said Dr. Dean Weatherley, the coach of the Cornwall College team. "I am sure the boys have learnt from the experience so I am expecting them to rise to the occasion."
Another game that should be keenly watched is the second of the two Group One games between Godfrey Stewart High School, who have only lost one game all season, and the competent but inconsistent Cedric Titus, the runners-up in Zone D of the daCosta Cup preliminary round.
Still smarting from their Ben Francis KO quarter-final loss against Cornwall College, the well-conditioned Godfrey Stewart team, which was on the verge of beating the Montego Bay team in the first of the unplanned trilogy when a power-outage ended the game prematurely, is reportedly hungry for success.
"We can't win the Ben Francis KO again but we can certainly win the daCosta Cup and this what we intend to do," said Carl Palmer, the coach of Godfrey Stewart. "We now have a better understanding of what the big teams have to offer and I believe we are up to the challenge."
