Glenmuir face explosive Manchester

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:  Reigning champions Glenmuir High School will be among the four zone winners from the preliminary round of the 2010 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup, who will be bowing into action in the 2010 Ben Francis Knockout when that competition moves into its quarter-final stage this afternoon, with matches set to begin at 3 o'clock.

The matches down for contention are as follows: Glenmuir vs Manchester High at Jamalco, St James High vs Manning's at Jarrett Park, Paul Bogle vs Old Harbour at York Oval and daCosta Cup champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) vs Marcus Garvey at STETHS.

Based on their impressive daCosta Cup preliminary campaign, which saw them topping Zone I with an impressive record of eight wins, one draw and one defeat in 10 games, the Patrick 'Jackie' Walters-coached Glenmuir should be entering their game against Zone G winners Manchester High full of confidence.

However, having conquered the impressive Clarendon College in their first-round fixture, albeit in a penalty shoot-out, the Barry Watson-conditioned Manchester High should hold no fear for their opponents. In fact, with an impressive 49 goals for and four against in the daCosta Cup, they could well turn out to be an offensive nightmare for Glenmuir.

The Jarrett Park showdown between 2008 champions St James High and the brash Manning's could well turn out to be a humdinger, as both teams are blessed with an abundance of good talent and are clearly enjoying spanking form, based on the way they have dominated their respective zones in the daCosta Cup first round.

While Manning's must be on a high after eliminating the much-vaunted Rusea's 2-1 on Thursday, their opponents, St James High, which look quite solid with the likes of national players Allan Ottey and Ricardo Morris, will definitely not want to join Rusea's into the competition's scrap heap.

"We know it will be a tough game but we will be ready," said Manning's coach, Aaron Lawrence.

desired result achieved

"We prepared well for the Rusea's game and got the desired result and we will be doing the same for the game against St James High," he added.

The matchup between Paul Bogle and Old Harbour should be an interesting one.

While Old Harbour's confidence should be soaring after their first-round 1-0 win against Buff Bay on Thursday, the Paul Bogle team, fresh from their dominance in Zone L of the daCosta Cup, should be flush with confidence that they will add Old Harbour's scalp to their list of conquest.

The matchup between STETHS and Marcus Garvey, which completed their daCosta Cup preliminary round campaign unbeaten, should be an intriguing affair. While Marcus Garvey must be bubbling with confidence following their 4-0 demolition of St Mary Technical on Thursday, the unbeaten STETHS should be fully focused on winning their first Ben Francis title.

Following today's games, the winner of the Glenmuir-Manchester High game will meet the winner the Paul Bogle-Old Harbour game in one semi-final, while the winner of the St James High-Manning's contest will meet the winner of the STETHS-Marcus Garvey game in the other semi-final. These games will be played next Wednesday.