Naparima College will be hoping to repeat their iconic triple-crown haul of national football titles which was achieved 15 years ago under former coach Jan Steadman, when they square off against rivals St Benedicts in the this year’s edition of the Coca Cola Intercol South Zone finals which kicks off tomorrow.
Having already hoisted the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and Big Four crowns for the competitive season thus far, Naparima College are once again on the brink of creating football history.
In yesterday’s semi-final clash against Pleasantville Secondary at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, yesterday, ‘Naps’ moved one step closer to another historic season haul when they disposed of their opponents 4-0 to advance.
From as early as the 11th minute, Naparima led the charge forward with Nicholas Dillon swinging a menacing cross in from the flank. However, there was no one following through to slot it home. Dillon continued to pester the Pleasantville defence and shot wide of the target seven minutes later. Naparima continued to apply pressure and were duly rewarded in the 34th minute when Martieon Watson received the ball at the edge of the penalty area and slapped it into the far corner (1-0).
Two minutes from the half-time break, national Under-20 standout Jabari Mitchell played a defence-splitting pass to forward Akinola Gregory who made no mistake to find the back of the net (2-0).
At the resumption, Pleasantville squandered their rare chances and were made to pay as Mitchell then etched his name on the scoresheet with a well-built play comprising teammates Dillon and Michael Basdeo (3-0) in the 68th. One minute before the end of normal time, Dillon latched on to a precise Basdeo through-ball and netted once more to complete the 4-0 sweep and secure a place in the 2014 Zonal final.
Additionally, St Benedicts advanced to tomorrow’s final by holding off Presentation College, San Fernando, in the penalty shootout. Both teams played to a 0-0 result before kicks from the spot went in favour of the Southern Lions.
And in what can be considered the upset of the season, East Mucurapo Secondary dumped defending Intercol champions St Anthony’s College out by squeezing out a 5-4 win on penalty kicks yesterday. At the end of 90 minutes and extra time, the scores were deadlocked at 1-1 and resulted in kicks from the spot. They now meet St Mary’s in the North Zone final after they ousted Trinity North 2-1 in yesterday’s semi-final.
Naparima College will play St Benedict’s College on Thursday at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium at 4pm to decide the South Zone Intercol champion.