Western Bureau:

Ben Francis Knock-Out champions St James High added another pleasing chapter to their quest for the rural double on Saturday when they clipped St Thomas Technical 1-0 in their first-round Group One ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup quarter-final game at York Oval, in St Thomas.

In a game in which they scored early and held on grimly until the final whistle to snatch victory, St James got their lone goal through striker Nicoli Barrett, who was getting his 20th goal of the season.

"We could not have asked for a better start to the quarter-final, especially since we had to travel halfway across the island for this game," said Pastor Hugh Solomon, the coach of the St James High team.

Spank Frome

In the second of the two Group-One games, Lennon High erased an early 1-0 deficit to spank Frome Technical 3-1 in their game at the Jamalco Sports Club, in Clarendon. By virtue of their win, the Lennon team and St James High, which they will meet in a second-round fixture tomorrow, are joint leaders of the group with three points each.

Over in Group Two, Spaldings High, with two goals in time added on, scored a dramatic 3-2 win over eight-time champions Rusea's in their first-round fixture at the St Elizabeth Technical High School ground, in St Elizabeth.

Bounced back

After watching Rusea's grab an early first-half 2-0 lead through goals by Niko Bailey and Godfrey Cunningham, Spaldings High bounced back for the breath-taking win through goals from skipper Jevaughn Powell (two) and substitute Wayot Davy.

"We are absolutely delighted because even when we were 2-0 down we still believed we would win the game," said Spaldings' coach Alexander Morgan, noting that his team has never lost in a game when Powell gets on the scoresheet. "This is a remarkable win for the team and confidence in the camp is now very high going into our next games."

In the second game in Group Two, St Elizabeth's Lacovia High turned in a fine performance to hold former champions Dinthill to a 2-2 draw in their game, which was played at the Spanish Town Prison Oval, in St Catherine.

Yesterday's result

Lennon High 3 Frome Technical 1

St James 1 St Thomas 0

Spaldings High 3 Rusea's 2

Dinthill 2 Lacovia 2