Clarendon, Ocho Rios in Ben Francis Cup showdown at Drax Hall

Defending champions Clarendon College and Ocho Rios High will meet at Drax Hall in an ISSA Ben Francis Cup Round of 16 game set to kick off at 3:00 this afternoon. Teams are vying for places in Saturday’s quarter-finals. Both Clarendon College and Ocho Rios High have made good starts to the competition. They will be confident of getting to the next round where they will face Manchester High, who beat Cornwall College 2-0 in Mandeville on Tuesday. Jahleel McKenzie scored in the 11th minute and Jequil Forbes scored in the 19th minute for Manchester to avenge last year’s loss to Cornwall College in the quarter-final round. Clarendon College opened their defence on Saturday with a 7-0 win over May Day High after sitting out the first round. Ocho Rios High have beaten Little London High 9-0 and Morant Bay High 1-0. Ocho Rios will hope they can use their familiarity with Drax Hall and the expected home crowd to their advantage. Elsewhere, last season’s semi-finalists McGrath High and Manning’s School will be hoping to make progress, while Kemps Hill High and Glenmuir High will meet in what is expected to be an exciting encounter. McGrath High will be without goalkeeper Rojaun Wines — who was sent off in Monday’s 5-1 win over Central High — when they take on Christiana High at Ewarton Sports Complex. McGrath High have scored 20 goals in their two Ben Francis Cup games but will face a stern Christiana High team that has not allowed any goals so far. Manning’s School will have a battle on their hands when they go to Munro College in the hills of St Elizabeth. Munro are full of confidence and have been scoring goals at will. Leading the Munro attack will be a player well-known to Manning’s, Kajaye Williams, who was part of the Manning’s teams that went deep into the season the past few years. Munro opened their account on Saturday by brushing aside Frome Technical 5-0 at Frome, while Manning’s successfully negotiated Edwin Allen High 2-1 after beating Marcus Garvey Technical 7-0 in the first round. Kemps Hill and Glenmuir have had things their own way so far but only one will get through this round. Glenmuir have scored 30 goals in their two games, while Kemps Hill have managed to score 16. Giant killers Denbigh High, who eliminated St Elizabeth Technical High School on Saturday, will hope their momentum will carry over when they play Porus High. Old Harbour High, who beat Rusea’s High, are set to face Garvey Maceo in May Pen, while Dinthill Technical are to host Bellefield High. — Paul A Reid   TUESDAY’S RESULT •Manchester 2, Cornwall 0 WEDNESDAY’S GAMES •Old Harbour vs Garvey Maceo @ Glenmuir •Dinthill vs Bellefield @ Dinthill Tech Kemps Hill vs Glenmuir @ Wembley Centre •McGrath vs Christiana @ Ewarton Complex •Munro vs Manning’s @ Munro •Porus vs Denbigh @ Manchester High •Ocho Rios vs Clarendon @ Drax Hall