St Augustine stop Mucurapo.
By: Roger Seepersad (Express).[/size]
There was an electrifying atmosphere at the Hasely Crawford Stadium as Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive again failed to lift the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Big Five trophy, this time going down to St Augustine Senior Comprehensive 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Action was aplenty on the field and off as the crowd, mostly students of the respective schools, showed their spirit chanting and singing throughout the game.
It was indeed a fine all-round display of team and school spirit as these two powerhouses battled for the title.
Mucurapo were boosted by the return of key player Khaleem Hyland from national duty with the Trinidad and Tobago Under-20 team. However, his presence was not inspiring on the pitch.
But their opponents played much more competitively with Elton John back in the line-up after his stint with the U-20 squad.
Mucurapo struck first in the 37th minute through a diving header from Kevin Molino which beat Joel Johnson from close range.
St Augustine never gave up the fight although they had only one solid attempt on goal up to half-time.
With some minor tweaking, the Green Machine came out in the second half and played like a completely different team. With two men up front, they created three chances in the first ten minutes.
And the scores were level after the fourth attempt as captain Daniel Joseph scored from a defensive error by the Mucurapo back line. Joseph was gifted the ball and he buried it past a diving Denzil Carabon, who was busy in the second half.
But tragedy would befall St Augustine a minute later as substitute Anthony Moses was sent off for a second yellow card. Mucurapo took advantage of his absence and went ahead in the 76th minute through Kevon Piper, who embarrassingly lobbed Johnson who came too far off his line.
Ten-man 'Gustine then regrouped for one final barrage on "Compre". Their efforts were rewarded in the 84th minute when Ryan O'Neil collected the ball from another defensive error and Carabon had no chance of making a save.
At the end of 90 minutes the score was 2-2 and after two ten-minute sessions of extra time the game had to be decided on penalties.
Piper stepped up first for Mucurapo and scored and Elton John kept the contest alive with his crisp shot; Ricardo Peltier was up next for Compre, but his shot was confidently saved by Johnson; Joseph also missed his penalty, keeping the fans on their feet; Kern St Louis then missed Mucurapo's third as Johnson was on fire; O'Neil made no mistake scoring his penalty, moving the "Green Machine" one step closer to the title; Hyland scored with confidence, but it was not to be as goal-scorer Molino, under tremendous pressure, hit his penalty straight into Johnson's hands, sending the St Augustine fans into orbit.
Fatima to start Inter-col defence against CIC.
By: Nigel Simon (Guardian).[/size]
Three-time national Inter-Col champion, Fatima College will start defence of its RBTT title in the feature match of a North Zone quarter-final double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Saturday from 5pm.
The draw for the eight edition of the RBTT- sponsored event was disclosed at a media briefing held at the Kapok Hotel, St Clair, yesterday. In last year’s final, Fatima edged St Augustine Senior Comprehensive 2-1 to add to their successes of 1965 and 1979.
However, St Augustine Green are fresh from a penalty shoot-out win over Fatima’s conquerors in the North final, Mucurapo, and are fancied to go all way, starting with the East competition on Monday.
The Fatima clash with relegated St Mary’s College will precede the zonal and national Inter-col opener between two-time national champions Malick Senior Comprehensive and Trinity College from 3pm at the same venue.
A double-header is also carded for the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella where Presentation College comes up against St Benedict’s College from 3pm in the first match.
Two hours later, Princes Town Senior Comprehensive faces Fyzabad Composite.
In his brief address, Wayne Kangaloo, RBTT’s assistant general manager Commercial Banking, noted that the success of the Inter-Col tournament can be seen not only by the number of national players who have passed through its ranks, but also by the fact that many secondary schools stars are now studying on full and partial football scholarships at top universities abroad.
He added, ‘We take delight in recalling that it was in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) that most of our national players began their careers like Dwight Yorke, at Signal Hill and more recently Kenwyne Jones, captain at St Anthony’s College and a previous winner of the Most Valuable Player award.
“Germany was a wonderful experience for our players and fans, and we would all want to ensure that playing in the World Cup is not a one-time experience.
The East and Central Zone starts on Monday while Tobago kicks off on Tuesday.
The zonal finalists in the North, East and South Zones will all advance to the national quarterfinal along with the winners of the Tobago and Central Zones. The national quarterfinals takes place from November 22 with the finals being scheduled for November 30 and a replay if needed on December 4.
Quarterfinal RBTT Inter-Col matches:
Saturday, November 4:
North Zone (Larry Games Stadium): [/b]
Malick SC vs Trinity College, 3pm
Fatima College vs St Mary’s College, 5pm
South Zone (Manny Ramjohn Stadium):
Presentation (San F’do) vs St Benedict’s College, 3pm.
Princes Town vs Fyzabad, 5pm.
Monday, November 6:
East Zone (Larry Gomes Stadium):
El Dorado SC vs Malabar, 3pm.
San Juan SC vs Arima SC, 5pm.
Central Zone (Ato Boldon Stadium)
Marabella Jr Sec vs UCB, 3pm.
Presentation (Chag’) vs Central Senior, 5pm. (At Presentation)
Tabaquite SC vs Chaguanas SC, 3.30pm
Tuesday, November 7:
North Zone (Hasely Crawford Stadium)
St Anthony’s College vs QRC, 3pm.
Mucurapo SC vs North Sen, 5pm.
Tobago Zone (Dwight Yorke Stadium)
Bishop’s vs Roxborough, 3.30pm.
South Zone (Manny Ramjohn Stadium):
Pleasantville SC v Princes Town SC, 3pm.
St Benedict’s College v Naparima College, 5 pm.
Wednesday, November 8:
South Zone (Manny Ramjohn Stadium)
Vessigny vs Moruga, 3pm
Naparima vs South Sen, 5pm
East Zone (Larry Gomes Stadium)
Toco vs Hillview, 3pm.
St Augustine vs East Sen, 5pm.
