Defending champions Lennon High School will continue the journey to their second hold on the Inter-secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) girls' football title, when they play St Jago High School in one of two semi-final round encounters at the Prison Oval today at 1 p.m.
The team from Mocho, Clarendon, was the first rural area school to grab the title last year after defeating St Hugh's High 7-6 on penalties. For this season, the team is yet to concede a goal.
In the quarter-final round, Lennon defeated Grange Hill 3-0, Tacius Golding High 9-0 and Christiana High School 10-0 to advance to the semi-final round.
Well prepared
"We have maintained 99 per cent of the team from last year, so we are well prepared for the semi-finals," Gordon said.
"We have not left any stone unturned during our preparations and perhaps we are even more prepared than last year in terms of organisation," he added.
Last year's Most Valuable Player, Simone Honeyghan, the competition's leading scorer this year with 44 goals, will lead the charge for her team.
"We have scored more goals than the other teams in the competition so far. Defensively and offensively, we are better than them, but today is going to boil down to who needs it the most," Gordon said.
In the second semi-final, scheduled for 3 p.m., last year's beaten semi-finalists, St Elizabeth Technical High (STETHS), will oppose former champions Excelsior High School.
Excelsior High, who won back-to-back titles from 2005-07, lost to Lennon last year but according to coach Xavier Gilbert, they are expecting a keen contest from the STETHS team.
Good achievement
"We have a young team so making it to the semi-finals is a good achievement based on the talent that we have," Gilbert said. "Hopefully, all being well, the girls can give a good account of themselves and make it into the finals."
In the quarter-finals, Excelsior defeated Ardenne 4-1, drew with McGrath 0-0 and defeated Trench Town 5-0.
"The competition really starts in the second round and the semi-final," Gilbert said. "The girls have done well so far but I am a little bit disappointed with some of our senior players' performance. I am not happy with the way that they are playing but hopefully they can get it right for the semi-finals."
"This year we are better now in terms of playing and understanding the game," Brooks said. "They are not just kicking the ball around and hoping that someone gets it. They are putting passes together, tackling and defending."
In the quarter-final round, STETHS drew with Old Harbour 0-0, beat St James 4-0 and Clarendon College 6-0.
"The team's preparation, over the last few weeks, has been very good. Last week, we had a small camp and the girls showed a lot of improvement in terms of their fitness," said Kurt Brooks STETHS caoch.
"They are really gearing up for the semi-finals and they want to win and reach the finals," he said.