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“Satisfaction”- This is the word being used at Shiva Boys Hindu School to explain how they feel after beating Presentation College in a rematch for the Coca Cola South Zone Intercol Title at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium on Saturday.

Yesterday Shiva principal Dexter Sakal said he led the charge after the victory on Saturday after the match was abandoned last week Monday. Ironically, exactly a week later Shiva Boys will today face St Anthony’s College in a semi-final encounter to determine the team to face St Augustine in the Coca Cola Intercol final. On Saturday, the Penal-based team copped the zonal title and confirmed a place in the national semi-finals after a detrimental 4-2 win via penalty kicks. The game was a rematch after last week’s brawl in which assistant referee Kevin Charles was struck in the head with a bottle by a supporter known as Godfrey Adams.

The incident stemmed from an unfavourable decision by match officials. The match was 80 minutes old and Presentation College had led 2-1.

Speaking after the match Sakal said he was elated with the fight shown by his students and commended the team and management staff for a job well done. “The victory really is satisfying to us all. After all the negative publicity and hysteria, we deserved it. The fans, the parents, players are all happy that we got the title,” he stated.

Coach of the Shiva Boys team Dexter Francis also congratulated his team. According to Francis at no point in time did his players think that it was impossible to claim the coveted and controversial south crown. “It’s a great feeling. We knew at the start of the season that we were looking for titles and here we are. We have been preparing for this and we capitalised on our chance. The boys deserved the win for their hard work and commitment,” he explained.

When asked if he was satisfied with the way the SSFL handled the entire situation, Francis revealed, “Yes I am. The laws of the game must prevail and that’s what happened. We as schools and sporting institutions must abide by these laws to ensure all games run smoothly. These are the laws not the rules,” he added.

After a goalless 90 minutes of play and no crowds to chant them on, penalty kicks were used to settle the score. But, Presentation scored their first and missed the following two kicks, which put them in a spot of bother. Shiva Boys made no mistake and found the back of the net with every kick to claim the prestigious crown.

Francis also admitted that he was optimistic his team would come away with the win from the penalty spot.

“When it came down to penalties I wasn’t worried, I was confident in my team. A lot of teams forget to practice penalty shots but we were well prepared for a situation like this. Our goalkeeper (Qwesi Weston) worked wonders for us in the goal,” he continued.

Speaking about Presentation’s performance on game-day, Francis was pleased with the levels of professionalism shown by both teams. Even though their competitive history has shown many discrepancies, Francis lauded the “Pres” team for a game well played.

“The standard of football in Saturday’s match was very high. Both teams were equal and that’s what pushed the drawn result (after 90 mins). They put up a good fight but we emerged winners on the day. Kudos to Presentation,” Francis indicated.

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