Paul Clarke

Petersfield captain, Akeem Whyte (left), tries to get the better of St Elizabeth Technical midfielder Travar McCulloch during their ISSA/LIME daCosta Cup quarter-final round match in Santa Cruz yesterday. STETHS won 1-0 to advance to the semi-finals.

Paul Clarke, Star Writer

Western Bureau: Petersfield's dream run in this year's daCosta Cup competition ended in a tough loss as Donjay Smith scored the all-important goal to guide defending champions St Elizabeth Technical to a 1-0 win at their Santa Cruz home yesterday and a place in the semi-finals.

It is the sixth straight semi-final appearance for STETHS, and they join Clarendon College, Glenmuir and Dinthill Technical in the semi-final round.

Clarendon tagged Frome Technical 3-1 at Juici Field to top Zone R on nine points, while Glenmuir edged Old Harbour 1-0 in their encounter at the Jamalco Sports Ground for their ninth point of the round.

Dinthill made sure of their passage with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Kemps Hill, while Cornwall College ended the season as well as they began with a 3-0 win over Lacovia in the first match of the Jarrett Park double-header, where St James defeated Cedric Titus 2-1.

Smith was scoring his 21st goal in all competitions, his 18th of the daCosta Cup to keep the Omar Wedderburn-coached school in the hunt for a repeat of last year's success.

"I am very happy to have scored to give my school this win; we are back in the semi-finals and it's a great feeling," Smith said.

"It was a tough game as Petersfield played hard all game, but as champions we feel very proud to have come back in the semis," an elated Smith added.

Deflated Petersfield coach, Delroy Delisser, heaped praise on the reigning champions, telling reporters his team gave all they could but champions always find a way out. He promised to return just as focused next year.