Cornwall College's goalscorer, Nickyle Webber (left), buckles under a challenge from Green Pond's Ocarey Spence. - Adrian Frater

Western Bureau:

With the preliminary phase of the 2010 ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel daCosta Cup football Competition drawing to a close, the battle for inter-zone places remains an intriguing affair as with just two rounds of matches and a few rescheduled games to be played, only three of the 26 available slots have been taken.

Rusea's, with a perfect record, seven wins from seven starts in Zone B. Defending champions St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), with six wins and two draws in Zone F and Zone C front-runner Marcus Garvey Technical, with seven wins and one draw in eight games, are the teams that have booked inter-zone places.

Rusea's, who cannot be caught for zonal honours with their unassailable 21 points and the Rohan Alexander coached Marcus Garvey Technical, whose 22 points cannot be over-taken, are also assured of the lone Ben francis fnock Out slot from their respective zones.

"Qualifying early takes some of the pressure off the team as we have basically achieved our first objective, which was to win the zone and qualify for the Ben Francis KO," said Anthony Williams, who shares coaching duties with the veteran Emerson Henry. "Our aim now is to guard against complacency in the remaining group games."

While Rusea's, Marcus Garvey Technical and STETHS can commence their inter-zone preparations, at least six other teams are just a whisker away from joining them. The six teams are Zone A front-runners

St James High, Zone D leaders St Mary Technical, Zone F's Munro College, Zone K surprise package Buff Bay High School and the Zone L duo of Paul Bogle High and St Thomas Technical.

St James High (17), the 2008 champions, just need to repeat their first-round win over a William Knibb team, who they previously spanked 4-1, to become the first Zone A qualifier. The scenario is much the same for Zone D leaders St Mary Technical and Zone F second place Munro College, who just need to repeat their first-round wins over Brimmervale and Lacovia, who they previously defeated 5-1 and 1-0.

In the case of Zone L's Paul Bogle and St Thomas Technical, they are just a win away from taking the two inter-zone places from their group.

However, while Rusea's, STETHS and Marcus Garvey have achieved their inter-zone aspirations, other high-profile teams like the competition's most successful team Cornwall College and 2007 champion Garvey Maceo are precariously placed and cannot survive another defeat.