Malick get past Fatima on penalties.
By: Kern DeFreitas (Express).[/size]
Ten-man Malick Senior Secondary Comprehensive survived a big scare, edging Fatima College 3-1 in a penalty shootout at the Hasely Crawford stadium yesterday to book a spot in the RBTT North Zone InterCol final.
The unlikely hero this time for Malick was goalie Joseph Baird who saved two spot kicks to keep his school in the hunt for the North title after a 1-1 scoreline at the end of extra-time. But, for 66 minutes Malick looked the more likely to go home empty handed. Looks, though, can be deceiving sometimes.
Keejay Ramdoo got things started for Fatima, scorching the left upright in the tenth minute and national youth player Chad De Freitas' effort from the rebound was forced wide. The resulting corner kick brought Fatima the opening goal, as it was directed in by Ryan Augustus.
Malick striker Akeem "Crouch" Bailey was unable to find the equaliser soon after, missing passes to the far post from both Hollan Joseph and his skipper Robert Primus.
The highlight of Fatima's game lay in their crisp, incisive passing, but as they reflect on the match, coach Errol McFarlane's charges would realise the value of missing one chance too many. Fatima did more of the attacking, but the interval met them still with a 1-0 lead. Even worse, they failed to take advantage when Malick were reduced to ten men, Joseph being sent off in the 39th for a wild tackle on Ethan Gordon.
In the second period, desperate defending by Malick kept their opponents at bay. De Freitas was denied from close range and later on missed a sitter in the penalty area. Goalie Baird made one of three potentially dangerous fumbles in the 67th, but no Fatima player was near enough to punish him.
Malick's lifeline came in the 76th when Kaydian Gabriel slipped pass his marker Quenten Williams and the defender took him down in the area. Jamaal Reyes converted past Fatima custodian Christopher Coker and the score remained 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
The teams were inseparable at the end of 20 minutes of extra time, although Fatima skipper Sheldon Bateau missed an audacious attempt at lobbing Baird from beyond half-line by inches and substitute Kern Robinson hit the far post. At the end, Malick's Brandon Victor was also unable to break the deadlock, thwarted by Coker.
Keeper Baird then became Malick's hero, stepping up to save two of three missed Fatima penalties, Stephen Knox sending the other wide. In contrast, Malick were on target with three of four tries and their reward is a place in the North Zone final. In the second match at the HC Stadium, St Mary's beat Mucurapo 3-2.
De Silva wonder strike sends ‘Saints’ into Final.
By: Sheldon Wood (schoolsoccernet).St. Mary’s College created a bit of history as they became the first Senior Division team to ever make it to an Intercol Zonal Final. National U-17 midfielder Sean De Silva scored two goals of exceptional quality to march the ‘Saints’ into the North Zone final against Malick Senior Comprehensive on Thursday.
The game started at a breath taking pace, and barely three minutes had elapsed when Mutar Taylor and Kevin Molino combined with deadly effect.
Taylor beat the ‘Saints’ left back and calmly slipped a pass to the waiting Molino who had the simple task of passing the ball into the goal with goalkeeper Matthew Jardim drawn out of position.
St. Mary’s wasted no time in giving their response, and two minutes later they equalized when Sean De Silva slipped a pass for forward Hakeem King who ran at four defenders before hammering a left footed shot past the dive of Mucurapo goalkeeper Michael Duff.
The momentum was clearly in the ‘Saints’ favor and they continued to push Mucurapo on the back foot.
In the 30th minute a poor defensive clearance was collected by Sean De Silva, who wasted no time in unleashing a right footed shot which curled its way into the right corner of the goal past the full length dive of goalkeeper Duff.
St. Mary’s could have had a third mere minutes after, when Leston Paul faked a shot and dragged past four Mucurapo defenders, only to see his left footed shot go inches past the far post.
As the half drew to a close, St. Mary’s seemed to run out of steam. Mucurapo had weathered a huge storm and were only down one goal. The second half began with the same breath taking pace as the first.
Mucurapo came out with a renewed sense of purpose and equalized in less than two minutes when Ateister Cambridge ran at the heart of the St. Mary’s defense, chipped a pass to Terrance Clarke who chested the ball down for Mutar Taylor to thump into the bottom left hand corner of the goal, giving ‘Saints’ keeper Jardim no chance.
It was the turn of St. Mary’s College to weather a Mucurapo storm. A combination of desperate last ditched defending, good orthodox and unorthodox goalkeeping kept Mucurapo at bay.
A game like this deserved something special to separate the two teams. With eight minutes left in the match, Sean De Silva produced a moment of sheer brilliance that was worthy of finishing such an enthralling encounter.
Again it was a poor defense clearance that caused the ball to drop nicely for De Silva, who from 30 yards out hit a shot which dipped and swerved into the top right hand corner of the goal. Mucurapo goalkeeper Michael Duff could only get his fingertips to the ball, but could not stop it from hitting the back of the net much to the disbelief of his teammates.
The St. Mary’s College faithful went wild, the goal that turned out to be the winner was indeed something special.
St. Mary’s College Coach Jason Edwards was ecstatic, yet kept things in perspective.
“As happy as the guys are, we realize that we still have some work to do.”
“We ran out of steam coming down to the end of the first half, and even in the second. In some ways were fortunate to survive the periods of pressure Mucurapo put on us, but it’s in games like this you need that extra bit of quality to pull you through. Tonight Sean (De Silva) was that extra bit of quality that made all the difference.”
St. Mary’s College will face Malick Senior Comprehensive in the 2007 RBTT North Zone Intercol Final on Thursday 15th November at the Hasley Crawford Stadium.
The fairy tale story continues….
Jesse Matthews, left, of Carapichaima Senior fights to keep possession of the ball in the Central Zone Intercol match against Waterloo yesterday at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Balmain. ...Author: VASHTI SINGH
