Rusea's roll past Cornwall 2-0... Knox hold STETHS 1-1

Western Bureau:

Champions Rusea's made a winning start to the inter-zone of the 2011 ISSA/Gatorade/Digicel daCosta Cup yesterday afternoon, blanking Cornwall College 2-0 in their Group Two game at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.

The 'Russians', who are still unbeaten in open play this season, got their goals through prolific striker Brian 'Rambo' Brown and Keanu Williams.

Brown's goal was his 25th of the season, which makes him the competition's leading striker.

"We were not as fluent as we would have liked but a win is a win and we will take that," said Rusea's coach, Anthony 'Follies' Williams. "We will now go home and prepare for our next came on Saturday."

However, while Rusea's were on the winning trail, newly crowned Ben Francis KO champions St Elizabeth Technical were surprising held to a 1-1 draw by Knox College in their Group Four clash at Kirkvine in Manchester.

Ironically, it was the first time that striker Kevon Farquharson had failed to score in a daCosta Cup game this season.

"We were not at our best today, but one positive was that they scored first and we managed to come back and draw level," said STETHS coach Andrew Edwards. "We also managed to finish the game quite strong."

While most of the teams were conservative offensively, former champions Glenmuir were red hot, spanking St Thomas Technical 6-2 in their Group Five game at York Oval in St Thomas. The prolific Noel Johnson was the hero for the Jackie Walters-coached team, scoring four times.

Manchester High, who lost to STETHS in the Ben Francis KO final, returned to winning ways in their Group Three game, blanking Munro College 2-0, courtesy of a double strike by Vincent Mitchell.

In some surprise results, Petersfield held many-time champions Clarendon College to a 1-1 draw in their Group Four game, Grange Hill had a similar result against last year's beaten finalist Lennon High in their Group Three game, Paul Bogle upstaged Denbigh 3-0 in Group Six, while Marcus Garvey overpowered St Mary Technical 4-0 in Group Two.

The competition will continue this afternoon with former champions St James High and Frome Technical meeting at the Frome Sports Ground in Westmoreland, starting at 3 p.m.