Glenmuir upstage high-riding Denbigh

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

Former champions Glenmuir High School continued to move through Zone I of the 2011-12 ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup like a silent assassin yesterday afternoon when they tagged group leaders, the much-vaunted Denbigh High, 2-1 in their rescheduled game.

By virtue of the win, the Jackie Walters-coached Glenmuir, which got both goals from Noel Johnson, remain the group's only unbeaten team, lifting their points tally to 25, with eight wins and a draw from nine games. They also have two outstanding games.

Despite their loss, the second defeat in 11 games, Denbigh, which also copped one of the zone's two interzone places, remain the group leaders with 27 points.

However, they are no longer favourites for the coveted Ben Francis KO slot, which now seems to be in the cross hairs of the Glenmuir team.

"It was a tough game, the surface was wet, muddy and difficult to play on," said Walters. "Nonetheless, we are satisfied with this result and hope my players will now realise that they have the potential to achieve good things once they stay focused."

In another rescheduled game yesterday, five-time champions Clarendon College rushed to the top of the Zone H standings with a big 9-0 win against struggling Alston. The win elevated them to 26 points, one more than the previous leaders Lennon High.

On an afternoon in which their front line clicked like a well-oiled machine, the Kevin Williams-coached Clarendon College aggregation scored through Dwayne Toussaint (four), Roshedie Jacobs (two), Kyle Cummings (two) and Romario Sherman, as Alston crumbled under their offensive power.

Good position

When the competition resumes this afternoon with action in five zones, several teams will be jostling to put themselves into a good position to join Rusea's, Denbigh High, St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) and St Mary Technical, the early qualifiers for the inter-zone round.

In fact, Zone G front-runners Manchester High could qualify for the interzone with a win away to Bellefield, which would take them to 27 points and not only an interzone place, but also a qualifier for the Ben Francis Cup KO, a position reserved for zone winners.

In Zone A where early front-runners St James High (20) have been faltering badly in recent games, should they lose to third-place Spot Valley (16) and the resurgent Cornwall College (17) win against Irwin High (6), the Hopeton Gilchrist-coached Cornwall College would join St James atop the standings.

In Zone F, early qualifiers STETHS will be gunning to tighten their grip on the lone Ben Francis slot, as a win would mean that they can only be caught on 28 points, but not surpassed.

STETHS are the defending Ben Francis Cup champions.