Rusea’s eye top spot in Group G

Western Bureau:

With Frome Technical safely in control of their daCosta Cup inter-zone round destiny, rivals and former champions, Rusea's High, could also cement a place in the next round when they take on Green Island High at 3:30 p.m. today.

Rusea's were ruthless in their last Group B outing on Tuesday against Merlene Ottey High. They came away with an easy 5-0 scoreline to move to nine points from four matches, then just three adrift of leaders Frome.

Aaron Lawrence, the Ruseas' head coach, is eyeing top spot in the group.

"It is very important that we not just advance, but that we finish first in the group while doing so," he told The Gleaner.

"We can definitely catch Frome, but we must win our last two matches and hope they slip up somewhere along the line, so defeating Green Island is the key here and we are ready for that," he said.

Green Island are not the force of former years and should pose few problems for Rusea's.

Rusea's in fine form

The Rusea's team has scored 11 goals so far, while conceding three. With midfielder Stephen Malcolm Jr, Kristoff Young and leading scorer Deshane Beckford all in fine form, they should easily get past their rivals.

Over in Montego Bay, city rivals Cornwall College and St James High are set for another hot contest.

Cornwall beat St James 2-0 last Saturday to hand them their first loss of the season. They then whipped Anchovy 4-0 to maintain their perfect record and 15 points in Group A.

St James (seven points) have it all to do after their listless 1-0 loss at Green Pond High on Thursday. That defeat means that a loss to Cornwall will end their hopes of advancing and send Green Pond (10 points) through with the high-flying Cornwall.

Runaway Group E leaders and defending champions St Elizabeth Technical have 19 points from seven matches so far to advance early and should secure three additional points against fifth-place Maggotty.

Under-pressure second-place team Lacovia (13) could take a massive step towards the next round when they play Newell, while Munro (11) need a win to remain in contention.