Prolific striker lifts Dinthill over Petersfield

Martin Beech's 74th- minute goal was enough for Dinthill Technical High School to clip Petersfield High 1-0 in their quarter-final encounter of the ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup at the Frome Sports Complex yesterday.

Xavier Gilbert, coach of Dinthill, was impressed by the performance of his top striker, whose tally now move to 10 goals from nine games. He is hoping he can fully recover from the back injury plaguing him.

"Definitely, he has scored in every single game he has played this season. He is carrying some injuries, not fully recovered, so he missed a few games. Also, he is not as sharp as he used to be, so we are just using these games to get him back sharp. He looked a lot better in the later part of the second half in the game," said Gilbert.

"He is a work in progress, he is recovering nicely continuing with the treatment and hope he can give us the rundown in the competition."

Despite the win, Gilbert was a bit disappointed in the team's overall performance but was pleased they were able to grind out the victory.

"It was tough, although I think we made it tougher than it really was. I don't think we made the necessary adjustments that we should have in the first half. We started out very tentative and slow, which I found very surprising. The first five to 10 minutes I could understand because you don't want to leave yourself loose playing a good opposition. After that I think we took too long to settle..." said Gilbert.

"All in all I think we still dominated the game, especially in the second half, we stepped up the pace. We did a lot better, move around the ball better and that's how the game is. Sometimes you have to grind out a result and if we can do that and still get three points, I'll take that any day," he said.

Yesterday's daCosta Cup results

Port Antonio 1-0 Mile Gully

Maggotty 0-1 Frome

Dinthill 1-0 Petersfield

Lennon 0-2 STETHS

Old Harbour 0-5 Clarendon College

Manchester 4-0 St. James

Cornwall College 3-1 Charlemont