San Juan Upset Defending Champs Fatima 3-2.
By: Justin Henry (schoolsoccernet).[/size]
San Juan emerged victorious in this year’s RBTT National Intercol Final, defeating Fatima by 3-2 at the Hasley Crawford Stadium on Thursday, despite going a man down in the 64th minute. The final truly lived up to all expectations as both teams came out playing attacking football delivering end to end action for the full 90 minutes, much to the enjoyment of the supporters. The game was also not short of controversy with the refereeing having a big part to play in the final scoreline. The atmosphere for the match was electric, the rhythm sections of both teams were in full blast and the good natured rivalry amongst the two sets of supporters was almost as intense as the battle on the pitch between the finalists.
The action kicked off and viewers knew almost immediately that the game was destined to have lots of goals as both teams could have opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes. San Juan goalkeeper, Glenroy Samuel had to look lively in the 3rd minute when Jevon Morris was played into a 1 on 1 situation with him, but the keeper got there first and gathered the ball. On the opposite end, an Elijah Manners corner made its way to an open Neil Mitchell in the 8th but he was wasteful and blasted his effort well wide of target. San Juan did see a bit more of the ball in the opening minutes of the game, while Fatima seemed content to soak up a bit of pressure and strike on the counter attack.
The San Juan pressure eventually paid off for the East Zone team in the 24th minute when a quick outlet pass from San Juan’s defensive third found a speeding Anthony Guppy down the right wing. Guppy picked up the ball and dribbled past a Fatima defender before deftly lifting the ball over an advancing Andrew Poon-King in the Fatima goal, giving the travelers a deserving 1-0 lead. The goal seemed to wake up the Fatima team and they began creating a few more goal scoring chances and in the 30th minute were awarded a spot kick when Kierron Marin was hauled down in the penalty area and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot. Fatima’s captain and dead-ball specialist, Sheldon Bateau stepped up and struck the ball hard and to the right of a diving Samuel, who got a hand to the ball but was unable to keep it out.
Despite some good opportunities, the first half ended up one goal apiece and both teams headed into the locker rooms, setting the stage for a grand stand second 45 minutes. San Juan could not have dreamed of a better start to the second period when they got the go ahead goal with only 23 seconds being played in the half. After the Fatima touch Jonathan Romain found the ball at his feet and burst into the penalty area from the right and took a right footed shot which took the cruelest of deflections off of a Fatima defender, carrying the ball up and over a helpless Poon-King. San Juan then doubled their advantage in the 57th minute, when Anthony Guppy managed to pick out his captain, Elijah Manners, after some skilful dribbling down the right. Manners made no mistake with his low right footed shot, puttng it into the bottom right corner of the goal, out of Poon-King’s reach.
Fatima were desperate and started throwing everything they had at the San Juan defense, but could not find that second goal needed to pull themselves back in the game. The game changed shape in the 64th minute when San Juan’s Jamal Spencer was shown his second yellow card for a lunging tackle on a Fatima attacker, and was given his marching orders by the referee. Ironically, if the referee had played the advantage, Fatima would have scored a goal as Jevon Morris had managed to stick the ball into the back of the net only for the play to be called back, much to the dismay of the Fatima supporters. With San Juan reduced to ten men, the game clearly swung in Fatima’s favour, and the pressure on the San Juan defense intensified.
In the 76th minute, Fatima was awarded their second penalty of the night when Keston Jackie put in a wild two footed tackle, bringing down Sherron Joseph in the penalty area. Joseph stepped up to take it, and the diminutive forward blasted it powerfully into the right side of the net giving his team a much deserved goal, and setting the stage for a frenetic final fifteen minutes.
Fatima continued harassing the San Juan defense, but just could not find the finishing touch. Bateau came closest in the 89th minute after rising to a Chad De Freitas corner but directed his header just wide.
In the end it just was not to be for Fatima and the ten man San Juan team held firm and celebrated passionately when the referee blew the final whistle.
Winning coach, Keith Jeffrey was ecstatic with the victory. He felt that his team truly deserved the win, but also mentioned that his team did not play their best game tonight. Jeffrey was disappointed with the referee’s decision to send off Spencer and cited that incident as a turning point in the game, as it led to Fatima truly dominating the closing stages of the game and his team had to do everything in their power to hang on to their lead.
Errol McFarlane Sr of Fatima pointed out that his team gave up some soft goals and were punished as a result. He commended San Juan’s attitude, saying that they were the more determined team and played like they wanted it more, while his players were guilty of adopting an over-confident approach to the match. Once again his team’s weakness showed in their inability to match up to more physical opponents and this also led to them having a difficult time getting back into the game. Overall McFarlane reflected on a successful season however and although he would have liked it to end on a happier note, is still fairly satisfied with his team’s overall achievements.
Congratulations to the 2006 RBTT National Intercol Champions San Juan Senior Comprehensive!!Thursday 30th November, 2006Soca Warriors Online supporter Touches Reports.
