Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

WITH TEN of the 24 inter-zone slots already filled, the mad scramble for the other 14 places will continue this afternoon when the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup resumes with games spanning nine of the 12 zones.

The Zone A clash between third-place Cornwall College (20), the competition's most successful team, and second-place Maldon (21) should take centrestage as whoever falters should bid the inter-zone goodbye. St James High (26) have already qualified for one of the two places.

While a win for Maldon (21) would see them through and terminate Cornwall College's bid, a draw would leave their hopes hanging by a thread and a loss would end their campaign. Cornwall College only need to avoid defeat because although a win would qualify them, a draw would leave them only with what looks like the easy task of beating Spot Valley in their final game.

Avoid defeat

"Our fate is in our hands and we know what we need to do," said Dr Dean Weatherley, whose Cornwall College team won the first-round contest between the teams 1-0. "Our first objective is to go up to Maldon and avoid defeat and we have every intention of doing just that."

However, Maldon's coach, Loren Sailsman, who incidentally is a former Cornwall College daCosta Cup captain, has other ideas as he is confident his team will be able to maintain its unbeaten record on home turf this season.

"We are quite confident that we will win at home," said coach Sailsman. "We are unbeaten at home and we intend to keep it that way."

Do or die

In Zone D, where Marcus Garvey (23) have already qualified for the inter-zone round, it will be a do-or-die situation for third-place Brown's Town (18) in their clash against second-place Cedric Titus (20). While Cedric Titus, who won the first-round contest 2-0, can afford the luxury of a draw, Brown's Town must win if they hope to survive.

In Zone F, leaders Manchester High (20) will become the group's first qualifier with a win against second-place Bellefield (14). However, a Bellefield win would not only put them in solid contention for an inter-zone place but would leave Manchester needing to win their last game or see either Bellefield or third-place DeCarteret College (13) stumble.

Edwin Allen, with nine points and four outstanding games and a slim chance of squeezing into the inter-zone ahead of either leaders Spalding (18) or second-place Holmwood (16), will be gunning for a win against out-of-contention Christiana in their Zone G fixture.

TODAY'S GAMES

Zone A: Maldon vs Cornwall College at Maldon; Herbert Morrison vs Green Pond at Herbert Morrison; Spot Valley vs St James at Spot Valley.

Zone B: Green Island vs Merlene Ottey at Green Island; Anchovy vs Hopewell at Anchovy; Knockalva vs Frome at Knockalva.

Zone C: Petersfield vs Manning's at Petersfield.

Zone D: Cedric Titus vs Brown's Town at Clarke's Town.

Zone F: Belair vs DeCarteret at Belair; Manchester vs Bellefield at Manchester; Porus vs Cross Keys at Porus.

Zone G: Edwin Allen vs Christiana at Edwin Allen.

Zone H: Clarendon College vs Denbigh at Chapelton; Thompson Town vs Claude McKay at Thompson Town.

Zone I: Tacius Golding vs Kemps Hill at Tacius Golding.

Zone J: Glengoffe vs Ewarton at Glengoffe.

Zone K: Annotto Bay vs St Mary Technical at Westmoreland Oval.