Johan Peltier’s 32nd minute strike turned out to be the match-winner for North Zone league champion Mucurapo, as it staved off a brave challenge from St Mary’s yesterday to clinch a place in Friday’s RBTT North Zone Intercol final.
In the first half in particular CIC found it hard to live with their opponents, always looking susceptible to conceding a goal with each Mucurapo foray.
Striker Mutar Taylor got the break-through for Mucurapo in the 16th minute, when Peltier on the right picked him out atop the 18-yard box. He then notched what has to be one of the goals of the season, evading three defenders and letting fly a curling right-footed blast that beat CIC goalie Raheem Belgrave all ends up.
A rare attack from CIC saw them nearly grabbing an equaliser shortly after Mucurapo took the lead, when winger Renaldo Garcia’s accurate cross found his captain Veer Lakhan-Joseph infront of goal. His volley was acrobatically saved by Michael Duff though.
The ‘Saints’ defence were playing a dangerous game, sitting off of their skillful opponents who have showed on countless occasions this season what they can do when afforded time and space to operate.
They were also holding a high line which the speedy Mucurapo forwards were exploiting time and again.
It was therefore no surprise when ‘Compre’ got a second goal in the 31st minute, a diagonal pass from Peltier to Taylor catching CIC’s defenders flat-footed. The nippy frontman displayed good technique, opening his body and placing his shot in the far corner of the net.
Peltier made it 3-0 one minute later, scoring an almost identical goal to Taylor’s when a ran onto a through pass and calmly slotted the ball into the far corner in the same manner as his team-mate.
Holding a three-goal lead at the half, ‘Compre’ was probably already thinking about its opponents in Friday’s final. CIC’s Savion Kirton had something to say about that though, pulling one back for his side in the 55th.
Chad Appoo then made things interesting in the last minute of regulation time, making no mistake from close range when Garcia squared for him to bang home.
It was too little, too late for ‘Saints’ though, as the referee blew the final whistle just moments after. Mucurapo now await the winner of today’s Fatima - St Antony’s match.
‘Gustine’, Arima in East InterCol final.
T&T Guardian Reports.
St Augustine and Arima earned a berth in the RBTT East Zone Intercol final yesterday with 1-0 wins over Toco and San Juan respectively at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Centre of Excellence, Macoya.
The ‘Green Machine’, the defending East Zone champion which has appeared in the final for the past five seasons, scored through Jevon Vance’s in the 12th minute. His lone strike gave St Augustine a chance to repeat when it plays San Juan in Saturday’s title match.
But the victory over Toco was not as emphatic as many had foretold. St Augustine had hammered Toco repeatedly during league competition. The team from the scenic coastal school struggled through an abysmal season, while ‘Gustine’ was one of the league’s highest scoring offensive teams.
Toco came to life for the Intercol, dispatching 2007 national finalist El Dorado at the quarter-final stage. Toco defended stoutly against the St Augustine hit men. Captain Jemel Paul, and ‘keeper Simon Blake kept out the opposition with brave defending. This gave their team hope of another upset.
St Augustine survived a couple scares around its own goal-mouth and held on for the win.
Arima secured its win over San Juan, the zone’s league champion, with a second-half goal by Aaron Ballantyne.
Saturday’s finalists are all square after two meetings in the league this season—St Augustine coming away with a 3-2 win in the first round and going under 0-1 in the second round.
“Things might look even at this point with one victory each so the decider will be on Saturday, “said ‘Gustine’ coach Michael Grayson after both matches.
“We didnt play as well as we expected against Toco but, of course, we have the goods to whip Arima,” he added.
Teams from the East Zone have contested the National Championship for the past three seasons, and won twice in that time. Naparima, who turned back El Dorado in last year’s final, is the defending champion.
RESULTS
ST AUGUSTINE 1 (Jevon Vance 12th) v TOCO 0
SAN JUAN 0 v ARIMA 1 (Aaron Ballantyne).
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