Giants Ocho Rios brace for Little London

The ISSA Ben Francis Knockout competition kicks off today with a David-versus-Goliath clash as seeded teams take on preliminary-round qualifiers in an intriguing opening round.

Five matches are scheduled across the island, with teams battling to stay alive in the win-or-go-home competition.

In St Ann, seeded Ocho Rios High will officially begin their season when they host Little London at the Drax Hall Sports Complex at 4:15 p.m. in one of two matches set for that venue today.

The Veron Peterkin-coached Ochos Rios outfit will look to the experience and maturity of leading striker Dario James to spearhead the attack as they seek a place in the next round.

Peterkin said the team is prepared for the challenge and views the knockout competition as an opportunity to address weaknesses exposed during last weekend’s ISSA Super Saturday In-Season Festival.

“We will be ready for today’s game, and the expectation is to give it our best home game. We’ll be ready by the time the daCosta Cup begins. It’s a late start, so we have to be careful. We are just trying to be as careful as possible,” said Peterkin.

“We are grateful to see the errors that the players made in the Super Saturday In-Season Festival last weekend because we get a chance to fix the holes and we should be good,” he added.

With home advantage and seeded status, Ocho Rios will enter the contest confidently, but Little London coach Mark Taylor is hoping that his team can pull off an upset.

Acknowledging the challenge ahead, Taylor said his players are embracing their underdog status and are prepared to test the seeded Ocho Rios side.

“I know it will be a tough task, especially knowing that we are playing one of the seeded teams from last year’s competition, but we’re up to the task, and hopefully, this time, David can beat Goliath again,” said Taylor.

Little London endured a difficult preliminary round campaign, and preparations for today’s encounter have also been disrupted by inclement weather.

“Unfortunately, the rain has been going on since the weekend, and Wednesday’s game was completely washed out. We had hoped we could get some practice in for today,” Taylor said.

In today’s other matches, Ferncourt take on Porus at Drax Hall, Old Harbour host Lewisville, Christiana face Fair Prospect at Kirkvine, and B.B. Coke meet Irwin.

Today’s Games

Ferncourt vs Porus, Drax Hall Sports Complex, 2:00 p.m.

Ocho Rios vs Little London, Drax Hall Sports Complex, 4:15 p.m.

Old Harbour vs Lewisville, venue TBA, 3:00 p.m.

Christiana vs Fair Prospect, Kirkvine Sports Complex, 3:00 p.m.

B.B. Coke vs Irwin, B.B. Coke, 3:00 p.m.