Fatima, St Augustine in InterCol final

Neither their current form nor either team’s history in the competition will give a proper indication of which outfit starts as favourite today. This evening’s title decider comes just four days after both teams cruised past their semifinal opponents. St Augustine, opening the last-four double-header, on Friday, scored two unanswered second half goals to defeat surprise South Zone package, Princes Town West Secondary.

Maurice Ford opened 12 minutes into the restart, before Akeem Garcia closed the scoring in the 75th minute.

The result saw St Augustine continue one of its typically strong runs, as it cruised into its second straight InterCol final, while Princes Town, a team which finished sixth of seven teams in the South Zone league competition, but blew away some of the more favoured schools to capture the South Zone InterCol title, saw its dramatic run end at the second to last hurdle.

The second double-header fixture raised many more eyebrows as Fatima simply crushed Speyside 4-0. Fatima’s potent attack was not the staggering revelation from the semifinal.

Many of Fatima’s goals this season were top class, but it was Speyside’s lack of thrust and substance which had spectators, particularly from Tobago, scratching their heads after witnessing the same team win back-to-back zonal titles. Fatima, the North Zone InterCol champion and fourth-placed league finisher was in cruise control throughout.

With neither winning semifinalist conceding a goal much to the ideal of the defending via possession and attack, today’s final may witness each team cancelling out the other. Michael Grayson, coach of St Augustine, said his initial intention for the team was to capture all titles this season.

It fell short in the SSFL Big-Five semifinal to St Mary’s College, but was impressive almost throughout the season, with the help of his team’s top goalscorer Ricardo John. Grayson, however, indicated his desire of closing this season in the perfect way by claiming National title.

The last time St Augustine won the National InterCol was in 1984, three years after it won the title for the first time. In between then and now, particularly in the last decade, St Augustine Secondary has been one of the best teams in the country in knockout competitions, taking the Big-Five title four times during Grayson’s reign as head coach.

Meanwhile, Fatima College, which last lifted the National InterCol title eight years ago, is equally hungry for national success. Coach Richard Hood, who joined Fatima at the end of last season said he looks forward to further success today, although he can already claim triumph in his debut season. Hood, who coached Providence Girls Catholic School for 11 years, carried his former team to the Big-Four, Zonal InterCol and National InterCol titles, all in 2005.

He wishes to do the same in coming years for Fatima. Heading into the final, Hood said:  “We have a different game plan, obviously. We’re putting on some finishing touches here (in training) in preparation for tomorrow. We’re confident.” Asked if there was a particular position which may have needed fine-tuning ahead of today’s match, Hood hastily said, “Finishing.

Our finishing could sharpen.” Versus Speyside on Friday, Hood added that he had expected his team to score more goals than the four. “They (defenders) were also very good and we expect a lot from our back-line,” said Hood.

Today’s Coca-Cola National InterCol final:

Fatima College v St Augustine Secondary, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, 4.30 pm.

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Fatima, ’Gustine renew rivalry for InterCol title.
By Kern De Freitas (Express).

It is anyone’s guess who will emerge Coca Cola InterCol champions when the “Green Machine” of St Augustine Secondary roll up to Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo to face Fatima College for the 2013 title.

This season marks the tenth year “Green Machine” coach Michael Grayson has been at the helm of the dual East Zone champions, one of the most successful teams in the last decade of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL). Yet in that time, the InterCol trophy has continually eluded them.

Fatima College have endured a drought since their 2005 InterCol title, and have put their hands up as serious contenders this time around.

There is little similarity in the teams’s respective paths to today’s decider.

St Augustine have not been beaten in regulation time so far, and have proved difficult to score on. Their two East titles were built on a strong attack and sturdy defence, and they have lost just once, in a penalty shootout against St Mary’s College in their “Big Five” semi-final.

Fatima, meanwhile, had a League season beset with injury woes, according to coach Richard Hood, which saw them finish fourth in the North. Since then, they have hardly put a foot wrong, and their 4-0 dismantling of Speyside Secondary in the semis last week was impressive. They will have to improve on that to snare their fourth InterCol title.

The teams also have history. Nine times St Augustine have tasted schools football glory, but their last five have come in the League. Fatima are seeking their sixth lien on a national trophy (fourth InterCol). And history is also on their side: three times the teams have met in an InterCol final, with St Augustine prevailing 1-0 in 1981, and Fatima getting the upper hand in 1979, and most recently in 2005, both times by a 2-1 margin.

FATIMA COLLEGE

Coach Hood told the Express yesterday that his team is “feeling pretty good”. He chalks up their InterCol run to self-belief.

He singled out national youth players Akeem Garcia, Aikim Andrews and Shannon Gomez as St Augustine’s standouts, and voiced Fatima’s respect for their opponents. Still, that is as much as the East giants will get from their North rivals.

“We have seen some (weaknesses) and we hope we can exploit them. I think their defence has not been tested (yet). Based on the couple of games I watched, they were not tested. We definitely will test their defence,” said Hood.

He added: “I think going into the game, anybody who has seen both teams will say Fatima would be the stronger team in terms of their performances, and style of play. I don’t see us as underdogs at all.”

ST AUGUSTINE SECONDARY

Manager Andre Moses knows all too well Fatima’s record against his team and the empty space on their trophy cupboard waiting for a third InterCol title, which will bring them level with Signal Hill as the winningest team in schools football with ten. But history, he says, is behind them.

“It really depends on what we do. We have to win the game on the pitch tomorrow. We’re not giving ourselves too much (pressure where Fatima’s record against us is concerned).”

Stating the obvious, Moses said that taking goalscoring chances will make the difference for either team.

“In a simple way, you have to score and prevent them from scoring. We have conceded two goals in open play in the season so far. We also have a strong defence that will have to hold up. We have the top goalscorer. Everything depends on the game and you can’t play it before the day. But we have reason to be confident in ourselves.

“(Fatima) seem to be one of the better organised teams in terms of playing in a structure, so it will be a good game.”