The Tobago Zone have been in the wilderness of the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) in recent years.
But Signal Hill Secondary stated their intention yesterday to return from that wilderness with a 3-1 dismantling of Carapichaima Secondary at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
Man-of-the-Match Nariel Wilson shocked "Caps" with his headed opener early in the match, but Carapichaima's Christon Ralph tied the scores just before the break.
Shaquille Gill and Dareem Moore then both hit net in the second half to put the match beyond the visitors.
In the last few years, Carapichaima have proved better than their sister isle counterparts in previous quarter-final clashes in Tobago.
But yesterday Signal Hill flipped the script for the Tobago schools, using their height advantage, physical presence and superior speed to advantage. That meant Carapichaima had to defend more than they would have hoped, as they tried to absorb the pressure.
Caps were chasing the match from as early as the 15th minute, when Wilson sank a close range header from a right side cross to bring the tiny, but appreciative Tobago crowd alive.
Signal Hill kept pressing for the advantage, and should have doubled up through Wilson on the half hour, but he hesitated on a pass from Moore and Caps were able to clear.
Another miss by Moore a few minutes later proved costly as the Central Zone champions equalised in the 43rd, Ralph collected a diagonal ball on the counter-attack, skipped past Signal Hill goalkeeper Shaquille King, and tapped into an empty net to cheers from their few supporters.
That 1-1 scoreline lasted just two minutes into the second half. This time, it was D'Jevon Archibald who made the mistake, misjudging a brilliant long range effort from the left flank by Gill. He saw space, and went for the far vee, and his right-footer dipped over Archibald and hit net.
That meant more pressure for Carapichaima as Signal Hill sniffed blood, firing a barrage of shots from distance to try to catch Archibald off guard again.
The clincher, though, would come on the counter, as substitute winger, the diminutive but lively Antonio Nelson, outpaced his marker on the right and whipped in a cross that Wilson headed home from point blank range.
The Tobago champs now progress to the "Big Five" semi-finals to meet the unbeaten St Anthony's "Tigers" on Tuesday.
A second upset for Signal Hill could go a long way towards bringing them back from the SSFL wilderness.
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