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Frome, Munro in big Ben Francis KO showdown
September 25, 2026
Former champions Frome Technical will host sleeping giants Munro College, when the round of 32 of the ISSA Ben Francis Cup knockout tournament resumes in what promises to be an intriguing showdown at Frome playing field, starting at 3 p.m.
Both teams, which are also competing in the daCosta Cup preliminary round, remain unbeaten and sit atop their respective zones.
Frome’s head coach Cleighton Stephens highlighted that winning the match is critical to positioning his team to win the entire competition.
“Expectation for this game at home is really big. If we were travelling, the expectation would still be big. I’ve never lost a competitive game at home from coaching in six years, so the expectation is big, especially for me. I want to continue to build on that,” said Stephens.
“It’s going to be a tough game because I know Munro is coming off a five-game winning streak, so I would say the momentum is with them. We are also coming off some wins, but I know they are going to come hard,” he added.
Five-star performance
Zone D’s Munro had a five-star performance on Tuesday, defeating Black River High 5-0, while Zone B’s Frome trounced Little London High 4-1.
“We stick to our plans in training and try not to change much. Reinforce our style of play and keep pushing the football. We are going to be facing tougher opponents, so we have to start preparing for that,” Stephens noted.
For Munro, tomorrow’s match will be their first game of the tournament after they were awarded a bye following Port Antonio High’s withdrawal.
Munro’s aim to ride their winning momentum as they continue their season in honour of late student Kamal Reynolds, whose memory remains a source of motivation for the players.
The two leading goalscorers, Izion Fraser and Kajaye Williams, who have nine goals apiece, will need to be on their ‘A’ game to give Munro a chance of winning in what is expected to be a hostile Frome environment.
Improved Porus
In St Elizabeth, Maggotty High will host an improved Porus High at 3 p.m.
Porus’ head coach Marlon Muschett says the team must transition from a “playing not to lose” mentality.
“These boys are coming from the beat-down days. I still have about eight of those boys on the team who were getting beaten badly by these other teams in previous years,” he shared. “What they’re doing, it’s a psychological effect where we are playing not to lose instead of playing to win,” Muschett said, noting the need to close out games confidently and convincingly.
In their opening game, Porus thrashed Ferncourt High 5-2, while Maggotty edged Foga Road High 1-0.
“They have to know that they are a good team, and once they know that, that’s when they will start playing as if they want to win the game,” Muschett added.
All 16 Ben Francis KO games will kick off at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, there will be a rescheduled daCosta Cup game between Lewisville High and deCarteret College at 3:30 pm.
Saturday’s matches:
STETHS vs Denbigh at STETHS
Kemps Hill vs Cedric Titus at Wembley Centre of Excellence
Clarendon vs May Day at Clarendon College
Christiana High vs Lacovia at Kirkvine Sport Club
Garvey Maceo vs Paul Bogle at Garvey Maceo
Manchester High vs Titchfield High at Manchester
Maggotty vs Porus at Appleton Sports Complex
Old Harbour vs Rusea’s High at Linval Dixon Oval
Frome vs Munro at Frome
Bellefield High vs Irwin High at Bellefield
Manning’s vs Edwin Allen at Manning’s
Ocho Rios vs Morant Bay at Drax Hall
McGrath High vs Central High at McGrath
Cornwall College vs Knox at Cornwall College
Dinthill vs Herbert Morrison Technical at Dinthill
Glenmuir vs Knockalva at Glenmuir
