Hills Have Eyes captured the 2013 Guinness Street Football Challenge title when they defeated Skillz That Killz 1-0 in the championship match of the national finals at the Jean Pierre Complex in Port of Spain on Saturday.
In a competition that featured the six zonal champions and the two best second place finishers, Hills Have Eyes were pretty much one of the underdogs, but an Ako James item in the fifth minute, followed by some resolute defending, saw the North East champions emerge victorious over their southern counterparts.
James scored what turned out to be the winning item when he flicked the ball home to complete an excellent move after being picked out by Denzil Turpin with a defence-splitting pass.
‘Skillz,’ the South Zone winners, tried valiantly to claw their way back in the second half of the match by initiating a period of sustained pressure during which they created at least three good goal-scoring opportunities.
The best chance fell to Juma Clarence in the 13th minute of play but he could only look on in despair as his effort flew inches wide of the target. Skillz continued to pressure their opponents in the final minutes but stout defending would eventually keep them at bay.
The winners and runners-up progressed to the final by registering victories via penalty kicks over Junior Mafia and Chelsea, respectively, after both semi-finals ended in goalless stalemates during regulation time.
And in the battle for third place, which was contested between two of the early title favourites, East Zone champions Junior Mafia scored three unanswered goals past Central Zone winners Chelsea.
Kerry Joseph found the back of the net in the fourth and ninth minutes of play while Garvin Balthazar completed the scoring in the 12th.
Hills Have Eyes earned $25,000 for their national title and will go on to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the regional finals in St Vincent from June 20-22, where they will come up against the national title holders of Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts, St Lucia and reigning regional champions St Vincent.
Skillz That Killz copped the second place prize of $10,000, while Junior Mafia pocketed $5,000 for their third place effort.
Joseph captured the award for most goals with a tally of eight at Saturday’s finale.
Defending champions Drifterz Answer Back of Tobago did not make it to the latter stages of the finals, failing to make it out of Group B.