Kemps Hill squeeze into daCosta Cup quarterfinal on fifth tie-breaker as last eight decided

ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – Kemps Hill High were awarded the eighth and final spot in the quarterfinals of the ISSA daCosta Cup football competition on Saturday’s final day of the round of 16. The Clarendon-based side edged Manchester High to the spot by the slimmest of margins, a fifth tie breaker, on a better disciplinary record. The rule has been on the ISSA books for years but it was the first time it has been used to break a tie. Kemps Hill and Manchester ended up tied in all statistical categories and the disciplinary tiebreaker was used to separate them. After beating outgoing champions St Elizabeth Technical 3-0 on Saturday, Kemps Hill ended with the same points as Manchester High who had a man sent off and got another cautioned during their 2-1 loss to Glenmuir High. According to ISSA rules, if two teams are tied on points, tie breakers will be used to decide the winner who will advance. They were tied on four points each after winning once, losing once and drawing against each other in their head to head meeting; scoring four goals and conceding four goals. The ISSA rules state: “Fair Play Record (the lowest number of points based on the number of yellow and red cards in all group matches is considered according to” a points system attached to cards received. The system awards 1 point for a yellow card, three points for an “indirect red card”, four points for a direct red card and five points for a yellow and direct red card. Meanwhile, former champions Cornwall College and Glenmuir High led the qualifiers for the quarterfinals after completing a clean sweep of their round of 16 games on Saturday. Cornwall College beat Garvey Maceo High 5-0 in Mocho, Clarendon to top Zone 1 with nine points. Despite conceding for the first time this season in regulation time, Glenmuir High beat 10-man Manchester High 2-1 to top Zone 2, also with maximum nine points. Also booking their places in the next round were Ocho Rios High from Zone 1, Lacovia High and Denbigh High from Zone 3 and Munro College. Former champions Clarendon College, Dinthill Technical, Frome Technical and Garvey Maceo High all failed to advance. Saturday’s results Garvey Maceo High-0, Cornwall College-5 Frome Tech-2, Ocho Rios High-3 Dinthill Technical-1, Lacovia High-2 Denbigh High-1, Clarendon College-0 STETHS-0, Kemps Hill High-3 Glenmuir High-2, Manchester High-1 Central High-0, Munro College-4 McGrath High vs Mannings School- *3-0 *McGrath awarded win, Manning’s forfeited