Grove could land historic berth to d’Cup semis today

Happy Grove School will look to continue their historic run in the 2019 ISSA/WATA daCosta Cup in honour of their late coach Gary Dinnal when they host B. B Coke at Carder Park in Port Antonio in one of eight third and final set of quarterfinals matches this afternoon.

Grove, with three points, need to beat B.B. Coke and hope group leaders, MaGrath, on six points, lose to St Elizabeth Technical to advance to the semi-final for the first time.

Vincent Wallace, who assumed the position of head coach after Dinnal died two weeks before the competition, started is confident his side can get all three points.

“I’m optimistic. I have no doubt in my boys. We know what we are capable of and so we are definitely looking for all three points. The school has never gone this far, in terms of having a chance to get to the semi-finals. We will be giving our all and best to get there if possible,” said Wallace.

Dinnal, who guided the school from

Hector’s River, Portland, to the quarter-finals for the first time in 2005, had been making preparation for another deep run in the competition before he passed, Wallace told STAR Sports.

His untimely death, however, has been serving as a form of motivation for the team.

“We still want to go as far as possible, which is qualifying for the next round of the daCosta. We know that we are in with a chance and would have to require some help from STETHS, but most importantly we have to get past B. B Coke. We are hoping for STETHS to do something at home but we have to focus on B. B Coke before even thinking about having a chance,” he said.