Richard Bryan, Star Writer

Munro repositioned itself as one of the fancied teams to challenge St Elizabeth Technical's expected dominance of Zone F when they defeated deCarteret 2-0 in Mandeville yesterday.

The three points earned pivoted Munro to nine points in four matches, shoring up second place behind St Elizabeth Technical who are yet to drop points or concede a goal after landing their fifth straight win - hammering Lacovia 6-0.

With Munro losing to Black River, and deCarteret winning against the latter, yesterday's matchup hosted by deCarteret had the potential to swing the challenges open for the two automatic second-round places were it to have ended in a draw or defeat for Munro. Munro. who have a game in hand, had scored previous wins against less established teams Balaclava and the minnows in the zone Newell.

However, their restored prominence as a genuine zone contender puts even greater spotlight on their clash tomorrow against STETHS in Malvern. Coach Alrick Clarke's own comments ahead of the game underscored the significance of the game for his team.

"We are below where we should be so all the games are big games. I've always admired STETHS and coach Andrew Edwards but we cannot afford to let down our guard at this time."

After a spirited start from both teams, Munro took the lead when Shannon Desouza's 25-yard free kick took a wicked deflection from deCarteret's wall and settled out of the reach of goalkeeper Gary Mathis. It was the tonic Munro needed to assert themselves throughout the game.

Munro also had the luxury of missing a 60th-minute penalty which Keniel Harrison crashed on to the crossbar, but Amin Miller's mazy run four minutes later ensured the game was virtually settled with the second goal.