Western Bureau:Rural champions St James High School started the defence of their daCosta Cup title in impressive fashion with a 4-0 win over Spot Valley but their urban counterparts, Manning Cup champions St George's College, had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Eltham High as the 2009 schoolboy season kicked off at Jarrett Park yesterday.

Captain John Barrett, Allan Ottey, Ricardo Morris and Roshane Reid were on target for St James.

"We did not play as well as we could but we are extremely happy for the win," Pastor Hugh Solomon, the coach of the St James High, said.

In the first half, both teams appeared tentative and despite creating chances at opposite ends, composure was lacking. In fact, towards the end of the half, Spot Valley looked like taking control as they launched a few spirited attacks.

under pressure

It was all St James High in the second half. In the 57th minute, they took the lead when a shot from Reid struck the upright and skipper Barrett fired in the rebound.

St James went further ahead in the 59th minute when Reid broke free on the right flank and sent Ottey clear with a perfect pass. He controlled elegantly, dribbled two paces and fired home.

Morrison took a neat pass from Reid and, under pressure in the 64th minute, scored to make it 3-0 and St James completed their goal-spree in the 71st minute when Reid pounced on a rebound and slammed home.

In the first game, Eltham took an early 26th-minute lead through Damarley Dawkins but lost two players - Rushane Clarke and Shawn Elliston - to reckless red cards which weakened them significantly.

well-deserved equaliser

St George's took charge in the second half and got a well-deserved equaliser through Romario Jones in the 76th minute.

"We could have scored several goals when our opponents went down to nine players but we were too anxious and as a result missed a few easy chances," said Neville Bell, the St George's coach. Eltham's coach Gregory Allen was naturally disappointed, especially after his team had the lead and looked so good. However, he praised the character of his players. "We showed a lot of character as we kept on fighting even when the odds were against us," said coach Allen.