Once again the Coca Cola InterCol has proved itself the great equaliser of schools football, no pun intended.
San Juan North Secondary yesterday became the competition's second major casualty after St Benedict's College went under to lowly Siparia a day earlier, losing 4-3 on kicks from the penalty spot against a determined Sangre Grande Secondary.
In the first match of the double-header at Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, the Bourg Mulatresse school, one of the most successful in the East Zone in recent years, failed to get past their zonal quarter-final, falling at the first hurdle.
The East Zone runners up did almost everything they could to hand the match to their opponents, including squandering a 3-2 lead in the spotkick shootout.
The teams only carried their duel to the penalty mark after regulation time failed to separate them, 2-2 the score line after 90 minutes.
Stephon Keer registered a brace for Sangre Grande with goals on either side of half-time, in between which Jerome Johnson and Curtly Dodds helped San Juan recover for a 2-1 lead at the break.
If San Juan had underestimated Sangre Grande, they were made to rue that error in the opening ten minutes.
Grande were the early aggressors, shocking San Juan into defensive mode, with the early attack coming from Keer and Kyle Thompson.
Keishawn Braminor had the first crack at goal for Grande, booting a free kick way over, but Keer didn't miss his-albeit through a deflection in the tenth minute-to put the North East Trinidad side in front.
Keer and Thompson both had chances within the next three minutes, but both went wide in clear one-on-one chances with San Juan goalkeeper Kevin Dodds that most other teams would score.
It took San Juan some time to settle in, but the 22nd minute equaliser did it, against the run of play. It was almost a freakish goal with San Juan counter-attacking, Johnson looked up at Grande's goal and fired a clinical long range drive into Keston Aberdeen's far post.
On the stroke of half-time, Dodds (C) beat the advancing Aberdeen to stroke in the go-ahead goal and San Juan were in the driver's seat.
In the second half, two more early missed opportunities looked likely to cost Grande the game. But Keer did make up for his glaring misses, rolling in his second in the 66th with Dodds (K) stranded, after a defensive mistake.
As the light faded so did the excitement, with a sequence of long balls from either side reducing the match to a see-saw battle.
The teams remained deadlocked at 2-2 at the end of full time and with San Juan 3-2 up in the shootout, Grande's Joseph Alexander had his weak shot saved. But San Juan missed their final two, leaving Jamel Sampel the job of hitting home the winner.
The underdogs had prevailed, but only to their next encounter, when they face El Dorado East Secondary. The "Blue Thunder" strode past Toco Composite 3-2 in the second match to earn the right to meet Sangre Grande next week.
El Dorado got first half goals from Keron Bethelmy (22nd, 45th), including a penalty, while Toco equalised in the 42nd minute from the penalty spot through Keshorn Walcott. National Under-20 player Daneil Cyrus sealed the issue in the 58th minute for El Dorado, although Keish Charles (90th) got a late goal for Toco.
Today's InterCol action will be in the North Zone, as new North champions St Mary's College take on Malick Secondary at Fatima College's Ground from 3.30 p.m.
Fatima meet neighbours Mucurapo East Secondary simultaneously at St Anthony's College Ground, in Westmoorings. The winners of these matches will face off next week for a spot in the North Zone InterCol final.
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