Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

The eight teams that have survived the rigours of the competition's two earlier phases, will continue to take aim at the ISAA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup schoolboy football semis this afternoon, when the crucial quarter-final stage starts with four games across rural Jamaica.

The teams, divided into two groups of four teams each, are paired as follows for today's games: Group One - Lennon High against Frome Technical and St Thomas Technical against Ben Francis champions St James High; and in Group Two - Spaldings High versus Rusea's and Dinthill against Lacovia.

With all the teams sporting respectable records, there is very little to separate them as except for Frome, Spalding and Dinthill, all the other schools have tasted defeat only once in all competitions - daCosta Cup and Ben Francis KO.

In terms of historical significance, the game involving St James High and St Thomas Technical should be closely watched as with the Ben Francis KO title under their belt, St James is the only team still in with a chance of becoming a triple champion - daCosta Cup, Ben Francis KO and Olivier Shield - this season.

Top form

St James, which went through Zone A of the daCosta Cup preliminaries and the Ben Francis KO unbeaten before losing 3-2 to Frome in an inter-zone match, was in top form in their last game, spanking Cedric Titus 4-0.

However, St Thomas, who were perfect in the inter-zone round, clipping Old Harbour 2-1, edging Bog Walk 1-0 and clipping St Mary 2-1, should prove hard to beat.

"We are making the kind of preparation that I believe will best serve us to go up against this St Thomas team," said Pastor Hugh Solomon, coach of St James High. "We remain confident and focused as we intend to win the daCosta Cup as well."

The game between Dinthill and Lacovia should be closely contested as, in terms of excitement and flair, both teams have been churning out high-quality excitement all season, especially Lacovia, which has been having a dream season.

Perfect record

In the inter-zone phase Dinthill, with 4-0, 2-0 and 1-0 wins against Annotto Bay, Paul Bogle and Glenmuir, respectively, have a perfect record while Lacovia, which had 2-1 and 4-0 wins over Clarendon College and Bellefield before losing 1-0 to Spalding, qualified for the quarter-finals as one of two best second-place finishers.

Rusea's, the most successful Cup winners of the eight teams left in contention, appear to be in spanking form, following their 2-0 win against a resolute Grange Hill in their last game. However, they must be cautious going into their game against a Spalding team which has been like a silent assassin all season, losing only once in 13 daCosta Cup games.

"We are at a stage where we can't afford to make any mistakes," said Rusea's coach Anthony 'Follies' Williams. "We are going into this game with taking all three points as our sole objective, as we have no plans to be playing catch-up in the final two games."

The game between Frome Technical and Lennon has the potential to be a classic as both teams were perfect in their inter-zone campaigns, winning their three games.

However, while Frome lost thrice in the competition's preliminary round, the Lennon team had eight wins and two draws in 10 outings.

The top two teams in each group of the quarter-finals will advance to the four-team semi-final round, which will ultimately yield the two finalists.

TODAY'S GAMES

Lennon High vs Frome Technical at Jamalco

St Thomas vs St James at York Oval

Spaldings High vs Rusea's at STETHS

Dinthill vs Lacovia at Spanish Town Prison Oval