St Augustine Secondary completed the national double yesterday when they edged Scarborough Secondary 2-1 at Shaw Park, Tobago yesterday, to pick up the BGT&T/First Citizens InterCol title.
Laurelle Theodore gave St Augustine a 1-0 half-time lead before Celeste Thomas scored what turned out to be the winner.
Aalliyah Charles gave Scarborough Secondary a lifeline in their first foray into national schools football, but it was only a consolation item in the end, as St Augustine rode out the final few minutes to celebrate the title and the sweep, as they grabbed the East and InterCol double, as well as the girls’ “Big Four”, which they snared by beating another Tobago team, Bishop’s High School.
St Augustine were ahead from as early as the third minute when Theodore found the net, and they should have had at least one more goal before half time. Scarborough, though, rode their luck to reach the interval with a 1-0 deficit.
The match, though, may have come down to a goalkeeping error by Scarborough’s Njemile Charles.
The “Green Machine” girls pressed hard early in the second period, and it paid off in the 53rd as Thomas’s weak shot trickled all the way through goalkeeper Charles (N) and over the line.
Scarborough really only got into the match in the final 20 minutes, and pressure paid off as a rare St Augustine defensive mistake allowed the other Charles, Aalliyah, to shoot past St Augustine goalie Portious Warren from a crowded penalty area.
After that Scarborough could not capitalise on some late pressure, leaving the East Zone champs to celebrate a season sweep.
Green Machine pips Scarborough in InterCol final
T&T Guardian Reports.
St Augustine Secondary, this season’s winner of the East Zone League, the Trinidad InterCol and the Big Four titles, added its third major piece of silverware to its cabinet yesterday, when it secured a 2-1 win away to Scarborough Secondary to lift the BGTT/First Citizens National Girls InterCol title.
Playing in the first match of a double-header at Shaw Park, Tobago, the 80-minute fixture opened just three minutes in with a goal from on-fire attacker Laurelle Theodore, before consistent striker for the Green Machine, Celeste Thomas scored what proved to be the winner in the 53rd minute.
Just over ten minutes before the sound of the final whistle, Aaliyah Charles scored to bring Scarborough back into the fixture, with a direct free kick. Despite an improved second period by Scarborough, it was a deserved win for St Augustine, whose captain Niaomee Guerra dictated the pace and kept the winning team’s attack flowing.
St Augustine, a team overshadowed by South Zone’s Debe Secondary in recent history, held the spotlight this season in an almost flawless campaign. Coach Desiree Sargeant and her team recently took the Trinidad InterCol title following a one-sided victory over Debe, two weeks after recording a 1-0 win over another Tobago team, Bishop’s High, in the Big Four final.
Guerra scored the match winner in that fixture. Despite Guerra and several other players missing large chunks of the season, St Augustine excelled in all competitions.
Speaking after the match, Sargeant said the victory was overwhelming, but nothing less than what her team deserved. “We thought coming out here (it) would have been a really hard game and it turned out to be just that. Scarborough Sec gave us a good fight and we are grateful for the victory,” she said.
Asked how she managed to keep her team focused defending against a desperate Scarborough team, Sargeant said, “It was a bit difficult. There are young kids. Some of them under 15.
The occasions was a bit overwhelming at times, but they showed some really good character. They knew what it meant. We tried to achieve something the school has never achieved before.
And, they were able to do that today, so hats off to them.” The second fixture last night was the Boys’ Coca-Cola National InterCol quarterfinal fixture between Chaguanas North Secondary and Speyside Tobago. The match concluded after press time with both teams seeking a spot in Friday’s National semifinal against Fatima College.
At half-time Speyside was up 2-0, courtesy of a double from Brandon Benjamin (17th and 19th minutes). The other semifinal will be played between South Zone champion Princes Town and East Zone winner St Augustine Secondary.