Photo by Adrian Frater
St. James High School's Garfield Hall (right) breaks away from Irwin High School's Gavine Kirlew during yesterday's daCosta Cup game in Montego Bay. St. James High won 3-1.

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:

CHAMPIONS GLENMUIR High return to action for the first time since their em-phatic opening day 6-2 win over Zone I counterparts Old Harbour when they take on Central High School in the 2007 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup, this afternoon.

There will be 32 games today, the largest single-day tally so far this season.

In addition to the return of the champions, top-of-the-table clashes will be the order of the day with big confrontations in four zones.

In Zone E, Munro battle St. Elizabeth Technical High School; in Zone C, Godfrey Stewart oppose Manning's; in Zone D, Ocho Rios tackle Cedric Titus; while in Zone H, Denbigh lock horns with Clarendon College.

Debutants

Amidst the maze of excitement, the four contenders from Zone L (A) - Happy Grove, Fair Prospect, Port Antonio and Titchfield - will all make their debuts.

Despite the emphatic first-day 6-0 mauling of Old Harbour, Glenmuir's coach, Jackie Walters, had expressed disappointment about some aspects of his team's play, especially defensively, so it should be interesting to see what adjustments he will make for today's game.

"I think we have a few things to work on before we reach where I would want this team to be," Walters said after the Jarrett Park game. "I think we still have some amount of work to do."

The match-up between Munro and STETHS in Malvern should be an intriguing contest as while both teams are tipped to make the inter-zone round, only the zone winners will qualify for the Ben Francis Knockout competition - the second of the two gems in the rural schoolboy crown.

While STETHS were most dismissive in their first-round 3-1 win against Newell, coach Hopeton Gilchrist said his Munro team played below par in their 3-0 blanking of the same opponent, which came on the heels of a first-round 1-0 win against Lacovia.

"We played poorly in the first half, but showed some amount of improvement in the second half," said Gilchrist. "There is a lot of room for improvement in this team."

Game of the round

The Zone H clash between Denbigh and Clarendon College could well be the game of the round. While Denbigh have looked good in their 2-0 and 4-0 wins over Kellits and Claude McKay respectively, Clarendon College have made a huge statement in their only game, battering Claude McKay 8-0.

While not measuring up to the big clashes, the game between fancied Rusea's and Merlene Ottey in Zone B should be closely watched because the Rusea's outfit, which has had victories over the likes of Glenmuir and Cornwall College in pre-season outings, is seen as a team capable of walking away with the title.

"We will be taking this competition game by game," said Rusea's assistant coach, Anthony 'Follies' Williams. "We are not looking past any team, we will be treating each game as if our very survival depends on the results."

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

Irwin High 1, St. James High 3

TODAY'S GAMES

Zone A

Anchovy vs Herbert Morrison.

Zone B

Frome vs Cambridge, Merlene Ottey vs Rusea's, Green Island vs Knockalva.

Zone C

Little London vs Maud McLeod, Petersfield vs Grange Hill, Godfrey Stewart vs Manning's.

Zone D

Ocho Rios vs Cedric Titus, York Castle vs Marcus Garvey, A. Gallimore vs Brown's Town.

Zone E

Munro vs STETHS, Black River vs Lacovia.

Zone F

Manchester vs Decarteret, Bellefield vs Belair.

Zone G

Holmwood vs Knox, Christiana vs Spaldings.

Zone H

Denbigh vs Clarendon College, Lennon vs Claude McKay, Thompson Town vs Kellits.

Zone I

Central vs Glenmuir, Garvey Maceo vs Bustamante

Zone J

Charlemont vs McGrath, Glengoffe vs Dinthill, Bog Walk vs Ewarton. Zone K

Brimmervale vs Islington, Iona vs St. Mary High, St. Mary Tech. vs Annotto Bay, Tacky vs Oracabessa.

Zone L (A)

Happy Grove vs Fair Prospect, Port Antonio vs Titchfield.

Zone L (B)

Yallahs vs Morant Bay, Paul Boglevs Seaforth.