“Ain’t nobody better than Debe.” This was the chant of the many Debe fans which came out to support their team against Roxborough Secondary yesterday at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella in the Girls Secondary School Football League national semi-final.
The girls of Debe did not disappoint them and provided ample entertainment in their 7-0 demolition of Roxborough. Starting with five national players—Mariah Shade, Stephanie Beam, Kayla Taylor, Patrice Vincent and Linfah Jones)—the defending champion made it clear from the onset that its team was not just stronger on paper but that its ‘stars’ could live up to their names on the field as well.
Both teams took some time to settle down, with Debe throwing away a few good chances that would have put them up earlier in the match. They pressed on though and largely controlled the ball possession as Taylor in her usual fine form, continuously created scoring opportunities, while missing out on a few herself.
Shade finally found the back of the net in the 24th minute, on a counter attack that found the Roxborough defence disarmed. She made her ground well down the right wing before easily slipping the ball to the right of Roxborough’s goal keeper Shanice Sylvester.
She then added another to her tally in the 40th from a penalty, to end the first half, 2-0 in favour of Debe. In the second half, Roxborough seemed rejuvenated and upped its effort to pull the match back, but its zeal was shortlived as Shade found the back of the net once more in the 43rd, in very similar fashion to that of her first goal and another shortly after in the 47th.
Four minutes later, Alana Lewis put her name on the scorecard when Sylvester failed to hold on to the ball after a diving save, to have the waiting Lewis nudge it in. Shade then made it five goals to her name in the 73rd minute, before Taylor got in on the action a minute later to round off the scoring. Debe will now meet Toco Secondary in hopes of making it two national titles in a row on Friday at the same venue from 3 pm.
Toco caused a huge upset in its match against Providence at the Queen’s Royal College ground yesterday, when it held the North Zone champ, goalless till the end of regulation time. Toco goalkeeper Teshara Hernandez was the hero on the day, saving three goals, to propel her team to a 3-2 victory over the highly favoured girls from Belmont and one step closer to the national title.