Heartbreak for STETHS, Munro; history for Ocho Rios

ST ELIZABETH Technical High School (STETHS) just missed out on a place in the daCosta Cup semi-finals after high-flying Glenmuir High School delivered a 5-2 thrashing that left them scrambling for goals, with the result of the other Group A game not going their way.

Going into the fixture, STETHS were on four points behind the perfect Glenmuir, and just needed a point to make it to the final four.

Breathing down their necks was McGrath High School who, while only having one point, could join them on four, were they to lose.

Still, there also needed to be a five-goal swing for STETHS to fail to make it, and McGrath did themselves a huge favour by dispatching an already eliminated Frome 4-0.

The results meant McGrath and not STETHS would be joining Glenmuir in the semi-finals from Group A.

Home fans were stunned early as Glenmuir took the lead in the 12th minute via a header from Orel Miller. Glenmuir bore fans again, doubling their lead in the 32nd minute, courtesy of Conroy Nicely before a brace from Orane Watson (45th, 67th) left STETHS with only the Ben Francis Cup to look forward to.

Watson has now banged in 31 goals in the daCosta Cup this season.

STETHS, aware of their precarious position, weren’t about to lie down, and, in the 80th minute, Justin McPherson grabbed one, while, in the 83rd, Shemmar Stewart added another.

But something had to give, STETHS’ push for goals had begun to leave holes and Glenmuir’s Ricardo Binns jumped highest to finish in time added to leave them well short on goals.

McGrath, who had come into the game with a negative-three goal difference, finished on plus-one, while STETHS, who had a plus-two, saw their goal difference plummet to negative-one.

Andrew Peart, coach of Glenmuir High, said his team’s preparation was on display.

“Today’s game was a very good one from the boys. It is good when you can see like preparation going into the game, and then the execution of it. We are really happy with the output from them. It is about just playing the game and enjoying it afterwards. The minor disappointment is the two goals conceded, but we can look to adjust those,” Peart said.

Never played disciplined

Meanwhile, Omar ‘Rambo’ Wedderburn said the defeat was a hard one to digest.

“I think we never played disciplined in the first half, conceding three goals. In the second half, we made some adjustments, but, after a while, we went back to the same indiciplined issue. This is the result, and it is what it is just now,” Wedderburn said.

In Group B, Ocho Rios High School created history when they punched their ticket to the semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Garvey Maceo.

Robert Morris and Keanu Reid came up big to lead their team to a victory. Despite the loss, Garvey Maceo also advanced.

Coming into the game, Garvey Maceo led the group with four points, followed by Central on two, and Ocho Rios on two.

Central’s loss meant they would end bottom of the group on two points, and Munro College would end third on four, the same as Garvey Maceo but with a poorer record in the goal difference column.

Munro came ever so close to continuing their hopes of breaking a 60-year drought with their 3-1 win over Central, but a 3-0 loss to Garvey Maceo last week proved just too much to overcome.

Munro will join STETHS, Central, and Frome in the quarter-finals of the Ben Francis Cup where they meet first-round qualifiers, Clarendon, Denbigh, Manchester, and Cornwall.

Yesterday’s results

STETHS 2-5 Glenmuir

Ocho Rios 2-0 Garvey Maceo

Munro 3-1 Central

McGrath 4-0 Frome