Manchester High and Cornwall College were the final two qualifiers for the ISSA Ben Francis KO after the quarter-final of the daCosta Cup ended on Tuesday, December 21, 2021.
Manchester High beat Cornwall College 2-1 in their Group 4 daCosta Cup quarter-final game at Green Pond High and both will advance to the Ben Francis KO.
Manchester High finished second in the group with six points, rebounding from their loss to Clarendon College last week, while Cornwall College was third with three points.
They joined Edwin Allen and Christiana High from Group 1, Munro College and Vere Technical from Group 2, and St Elizabeth Technical and Frome Technical from Group 3.
Densil Lee and Roshaun Reynolds scored for Manchester High while Dane Buckley had pulled Cornwall College level at the halftime break.
Manchester High had the first chance to score but Cornwall College’s goalkeeper Jordan Shaw parried a shot from close range in the 10th minute.
Cornwall College took over the game, dominating the midfield but despite creating several chances found Manchester High’s goalkeeper Othniel Reid had to beat.
Lee gave Manchester High the lead in the 45th minute when a cross from the right found him at the far post and he headed powerfully past Shaw from close range.
Cornwall College leveled the scores in less than a minute when Buckley hammered home a shot from close range, the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar and into the goal.
The Cornwall College defense was undone by another cross in the 74th minute and Reynolds was on hand at the far right post to score from about a foot out.
Cornwall College had chances to at least draw the game late in the second half but Reid pulled off a series of good saves to deny them and preserve the win for his team.
