Princes Town’s fairy tale season came to an end yesterday afternoon at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, when its stubborn defence was finally broken as St Augustine got one goal each from Maurice Ford and Akeem Garcia in the second half to seal a spot in Tuesday’s Coca-Cola National Inter-Col final.
Princes Town, the giant killers from south, upset many higher ranked teams on its way to the semifinal and was looking to shock another. Princes Town, which did not concede a goal before yesterday’s match, continued that streak until halftime, as both teams were locked 0-0 at the half.
The southerners, which finished sixth in the league, won two matches 1-0 recently, and was hoping for an early second half goal, but it was the Green Machine that broke the deadlock in the 57th minute through Ford. A 75th minute item from Akeem Garcia booked St Augustine’s place in the final. Princes Town’s manager Robert Warner was gracious in defeat.
“I am extremely proud of the crop this year, this is one of the best teams we have ever had.” Warner also stated that most of the team will be back next season.
“Seventy-five (75) percent of the team will be back next year.” The manager gave credit to St Augustine, saying it played a great tactical game and commended them for the win. The winning coach Michael Grayson, said his team has another opportunity to lift the trophy. “We get another chance to set things right.”
Last year, the Green Machine had to settle for the runner-up position to St Anthony’s College. Grayson and his unit will have one final training session tomorrow to iron out any kinks before the final. St Augustine stayed at the venue to view the Speyside, Fatima encounter, and will face the latter after it crushed the Tobago boys 4-0.
Entering the match, Speyside was the favorites, after winning the Tobago league. Fatima could only muster a fourth place finish in the North Zone league, but shocked St Mary’s and East Mucurapo in intercol competition on its way to yesterday’s semifinal.
Dillon Abraham got the scoring going in the second encounter with a goal in the 19th minute, when he caught Speyside goalkeeper, McKenzie Denoon, off his line. Fatima took the slim lead into the dressing room as Speyside looked to re-group. Unfortunately, Fatima began the second half strong as Omari George’s left foot strike from the right side again caught the goalkeeper napping.
Fatima set a date with St Augustine in the final when substitute scored only one minute after coming on, converting a rebound from a Marquis Hoyte shot. Dominic Jangoo added insult to injury in the 90th minute, when he blasted his shot home from thew right side.
RESULTS
St Augustine 2 (Maurice Ford 57th, Akeem Garcia 75th) v Princes Town 0
Fatima 4 (Dillon Abraham 19th, Omari George 48th, Joshua Pereira 84th, Dominic Jangoo 90th) v Speyside 0
Fatima, St Augustine to meet in final again
By Kern De Freitas (Express)
Fatima College made light work of Speyside Secondary yesterday, their 4-0 victory at the Hasely Crawford Stadium landing the North Zone champions a spot in Tuesday’s Coca Cola InterCol final opposite the “Green Machine” of St Augustine Secondary.
St Augustine registered a similarly comfortable 2-0 triumph over Princes Town West Secondary in yesterday’s earlier match at the same venue, before Fatima followed them into the decider which will be a rematch of the 2005 final which the North team won.
Yesterday, St Augustine took 58 minutes to break down a Princes Town West side that had proved sturdy in defence until then, Maurice Ford having the simple task of slamming home past hapless P Town goalkeeper Kevin John after a defensive mix-up left him with an open look at goal.
Before that, St Augustine’s attempts to pass their way into close striking proximity, allowed Princes Town to fend away their attacks.
Another mistake by the South InterCol winners put the icing on St Augustine’s cake in the 76th, this time Akeem Garcia beating John at his near post with a fierce strike after the custodian had succeeded in keeping out the initial effort from Shannon Gomez.
Their date with Fatima should be a little more complicated if the latter show the form displayed in the late encounter against Speyside.
The Tobago champions would have hoped for a similar result to their 4-0 quarter-final whipping of Chaguanas North Secondary; instead, they were on the receiving end.
Fatima charged to the interval leading 1-0, but by the way they played, the score could have been 3-0 by the break.
Dominic Jangoo pulled the strings for the Mucurapo Road-based side in midfield, teasing, probing and splitting open Speyside’s defence with some nifty footwork and incisive passing.
Speyside should have opened within 20 seconds after goalkeeper Guerra of Fatima made a meal of an attempted dribble instead of clearing, but his defence protected his open goal. Seconds later, Fatima had Speyside goalkeeper McKenzie Denoon diving at full stretch to deny Marquis Hoyte.
It was almost all Fatima from there, and the constant pressure paid off in the 19th minute, Dillon Abraham turning pressure into a gem of a goal with a pair of brilliant turns that left his markers for dead on the left of the penalty area, and him with time to pick his spot.
Five minutes after the break, Fatima were back at it, this time substitute Joshua Perreira finding the mark.
The match was sealed with two late goals from Hoyte and Jangoo, who would have been happy to cap off the match with a goal for his hard work, especially with striker Arvin Prescod unable to fire on the day.
The forward had several near misses, and even struck the upright.
Still, Fatima will take it for a shot at their first InterCol title in nine years.
Scores:
St Augustine 2 (Maurice Ford 58th, Akeem Garcia 76th) vs Princes Town West 0
Fatima 4 (Dillon Abraham 19th, Joshua Perreira 50th; Marquis Hoyte 86th, Dominic Jangoo 90th) Speyside 0
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