SIGNAL Hill Secondary School lifted the Coca-Cola Girls Intercol title on their third attempt in recent years with a 3-1 victory over Five Rivers Secondary School at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on Sunday.
Signal Hill, who also played their semi-final match last week at Ato Boldon Stadium, made their trip to Trinidad worthwhile.
Signal Hill coach Ray Mitchell was proud of his team. He said, “It was in the making. This is the third time we made it to the final as Signal Hill Secondary, so the third one had to be lucky. In the beginning of the season it was a bit tough seeing the majority of the girls are Under-15 and they will be playing in the Under-15 final.” Mitchell said before the covid19 pandemic Signal Hill lost in two finals.
Mitchell said time was lost during covid19 and everything came to a standstill. “The covid left a void in women’s football (and) age group (football). They got left out because of covid, no practice, nothing. It is the Under-15s we have and we try our best to work with them. We did a great job (and) they worked hard.”
Mitchell said he saw the determination in his players following their semi-final victory last week. “A couple days after the semi-final I saw that they wanted this one. The training session was very high, the intensity was the highest I have ever seen in training.”
Mitchell thanked the Secondary Schools Football League and the T&T Football Association for accommodating the team. Signal Hill stayed at the Home of Football over the past few days, which is on the same compound as the Ato Boldon Stadium.
“Thanks to SSFL…I want to say thanks to the Home of Football because without them (it would not have been possible). The accommodation is 100 per cent. It is designed to stay for football and to prepare for football.”
Mitchell said belief in themselves and belief in God helped Signal Hill lift the crown.
Signal Hill’s Madison Campbell got the first solid attempt on goal when her free kick from 30 yards went over the crossbar. In the first ten minutes, most of the play was in the centre of the field as the teams did not create clear chances on goal.
The match took a turn for the worse for Five Rivers as in the 15th minute Janella Walcott received a red card after handling the ball in the 18-yard box.
Alexandria Stewart converted the penalty to give Signal Hill the lead in the 16th minute.
Five Rivers did not get dejected following the red card as the match continued to be evenly contested. Trishell Charles came close for Five Rivers when her shot struck the crossbar.
The crowd was small but lively. Around the 30-minute mark, the Five Rivers supporters started shouting, “Five Rivers we want a goal” and “Let’s go Rivers, Let’s go.”
It seemed to inspire the team as Lu Ann Craig’s powerful shot found the back of the net in the 35th minute as Signal Hill goalkeeper Kenisha Taylor had no chance.
The Signal Hill contingent was not outdone, screaming, “Compre we want a goal.” Their request did not work immediately as the teams were tied 1-1 at half-time.
In the 49th minute, Twinkle Thomas gave Signal Hill the lead. A tame effort from outside the box beat Five Rivers custodian Mercedes Balthazar.
Balthazar redeemed herself with a couple of quality saves after the blunder.
Five Rivers started to struggle to come out of their own half as playing with ten started to take a toll. Craig continued to be one of the standout players for Five Rivers and had a chance to level the contest, but Taylor made the save at the near post.
In the 79th minute, Craig scored an own goal to put Signal Hill 3-1 up. In an attempt to head the ball clear following a corner kick she could only manage to score past Balthazar. The final whistle came shortly after as Signal Hill celebrated the title.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday