Ferncourt High’s 2026 ISSA daCosta Cup campaign is beginning to look like more than simply a promising start. Under the guidance of veteran coach Paul “Tegat” Davis, the St Ann school has opened the season with three victories from three matches, scoring 14 goals while conceding just once.

The results are particularly striking because Davis is not working with an experienced squad. In fact, when he spoke about the team before the second round of matches, he described a group in which the oldest player is only 17, with many of the players between 13 and 16. Davis has made it clear that Ferncourt’s project is as much about development as immediate success. 

Yet, three games into the campaign, the youngsters are already giving supporters plenty of reason for optimism.

A perfect start

Ferncourt began their Zone C campaign on Saturday, September 5, against Cedric Titus High. It was not an easy opening assignment, but the Davis-coached side showed enough character to leave with a 2–1 victory.

Contemporary reports described the result as a hard-fought opening win and noted that Davis wanted his team to improve while taking the campaign game by game.

Ferncourt’s 2026 daCosta Cup results so far

• September 5 — Cedric Titus High 1–2 Ferncourt High — Win
  
• September 8 — Ferncourt High 9–0 Walkerswood Academy — Win
  
• September 11 — Ferncourt High 3–0 York Castle High — Win
  
  

The second match demonstrated just how quickly Ferncourt can turn potential into production. Against newcomers Walkerswood Academy at the Drax Hall Sports Complex, Ferncourt produced a 9–0 demolition, following up their narrow opening victory in emphatic fashion. Jamaica’s major sporting outlets reported the result, with the Jamaica Observer specifically identifying Ferncourt as a Paul “Tegat” Davis-coached team keeping pace with the early leaders in Zone C. 

Then came the significant statement against traditional rivals York Castle.

The 3–0 victory over York Castle was perhaps the most revealing result of the three. The schools finished level on 19 points in last season’s Zone K campaign, with Ferncourt advancing ahead of York Castle because of their superior goal difference. The rivalry therefore carries more weight than an ordinary preliminary-round fixture. 

Winning comfortably this time suggests that Ferncourt are not merely collecting points against the less fancied teams in the zone. They are beginning to establish themselves as a serious force within Zone C.

Davis has preached patience — but the players are accelerating the process

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Ferncourt’s emergence is that the team's coach himself had warned that supporters would need to be patient.

Davis took over the coaching reins this season with a young squad that he believes possesses considerable natural ability. “They are good talent. Very good, talented kids,” he told the Jamaica Observer. 

His philosophy is straightforward: give the players time to understand his methods, develop their decision-making and grow physically and tactically. He noted that many of them have another two or three years of schoolboy football ahead of them, meaning that the group is not yet close to its ceiling. 

Davis has also been careful not to promise instant success. His view is that the real payoff from his work could come next season, once the players have had more time to absorb his ideas.

That makes the current results particularly encouraging.

The coach essentially came into the season saying: give us time to develop.

His players have responded by saying: we are ready now.

The numbers tell their own story

Three matches into the campaign, Ferncourt's record is striking:

• Played: 3
  
• Won: 3
  
• Drawn: 0
  
• Lost: 0
  
• Goals scored: 14
  
• Goals conceded: 1
  
• Goal difference: +13
  
• Points: 9
  
  

The progression is also noteworthy.

The 2–1 win over Cedric Titus showed resilience. The 9–0 win over Walkerswood displayed attacking confidence. The 3–0 victory over York Castle suggested that the team can combine attacking quality with defensive control against a familiar and competitive opponent.

That progression is arguably more important than the raw goal tally.

A new identity under Tegat Davis

Davis is one of the more experienced coaches working in Jamaican football, and his appointment gives Ferncourt something that youthful talent alone cannot provide: experience in developing players and managing competitive matches.

The coach has openly acknowledged that the project will be challenging. But he has also made clear that he is willing to accept that challenge and work with the players rather than demand that they become a finished product immediately. 

That approach could prove particularly valuable for Ferncourt.

Schoolboy football can be heavily results-driven, but young players also need room to make mistakes, learn systems and develop confidence. Davis appears to understand that balance. His comments suggest that he sees this season as the foundation of something potentially bigger.

And the early results indicate that the foundation is already solid.

Ferncourt suddenly look like one of Zone C’s teams to watch

Ferncourt are competing in a Zone C group that includes Brown’s Town High, Marcus Garvey Technical, Walkerswood Academy, York Castle High, Cedric Titus High and Discovery Bay High.

Brown’s Town made an extraordinary start to the competition, beating Walkerswood 20–0 before defeating Marcus Garvey Technical 5–0. Ferncourt's own 9–0 victory over Walkerswood therefore has to be viewed in the context of a highly competitive race at the top of the zone.

Ferncourt may not yet have the same depth or experience as some of the established daCosta Cup powers, but Davis has something potentially just as important: a young group with several years of development ahead of them.

The danger for their opponents is that this team may improve rapidly as the competition progresses.
The biggest question: how far can they go?

It is still early. Three matches cannot tell us whether Ferncourt will make a deep run into the latter stages of the daCosta Cup.

But it can tell us something.

This is not the same Ferncourt side that supporters may have expected to take time to adjust to a new coach. Davis himself anticipated a developmental process and suggested that the major fruits of his work might become evident next season. 

Instead, his young players have responded with three wins, 14 goals and just one conceded.

The 3–0 victory over York Castle is especially significant because it combines the two things Davis will want most from his team: evidence that they are learning his methods and evidence that they can perform against meaningful opposition.

For now, the most appropriate description of Ferncourt is not yet “title favourites.” It is an emerging team that nobody in Zone C can afford to take lightly.

And perhaps that is exactly the position Davis would prefer.

He came to Ferncourt knowing the squad was young, knowing development would take time and knowing that the challenge would be considerable. His message before the season was essentially one of patience.

Three games later, however, Ferncourt have given their coach something more immediate than patience.
They have given him momentum.

If that momentum continues, the “fruits” Davis predicted for the future may arrive much sooner than he expected.