Tigers scrape through to final

But the unbeaten "Tigers" were stretched hard by "Pres" before they saw off the South Zone champions with a Darryl Trim header in the final minute after steady pressure.

Before that, St Anthony's defender Savion Kirton cancelled out a beauty of a free kick from Pres's Shackiel Henry.

It was an entertaining first half that failed to separate two evenly-matched teams.

St Anthony's rang in the tactical changes, with strikers Trim and Garvin Samaroo on the bench, as well as playmaker Moriba Ballah.

They also had Keane McIvor move from left wing to centre midfield, in a bit more compact shape.

Presentation's notable absentee was striker J'van Pontiflet, who came in as a late substitute.

St Anthony's tactics seemed to have backfired on them as Pres dominated most of the early exchanges, before taking the lead in the 21st minute.

The Tigers conceded a free kick about 22 metres out, straight down the centre of the pitch, and Henry hit it expertly--low around the wall, with power and just beyond the reach of dimuntive St Anthony's goalkeeper Jamaal Francois's outstretched left hand.

The celebrations of the Presentation supporters and band, which rang loudly in the covered stands, were cut short eight minutes later when Raychard Allen swung in a right side corner and Kirton headed powerfully past Pres goalie Kelvin Henry.

A minute later, Henry had to be alert to collect a long ball with strikers Adrian Millette and Ajani Clarence closing in, the next best chance before a hard-fought first half ended with the teams locked at 1-1.

St Anthony's coach Nigel Grosvenor turned to his main strikers in the 50th, with a double substitution of Trim and Samaroo for Millette and Clarence.

Still Presentation threatened and, but for the intervention of Francois, should have gone ahead again. He had to take Henry's cross off the head of Anjel Williams in the 58th, before denying Williams again two minutes later, punching over a ball heading under the crossbar.

The match changed with the introduction of Ballah, who added that spark to the North team's transition from defence to attack.

Pres were left for the last 20 minutes holding off Samaroo and Trim and McIvor on the left, while Henry and Williams at the other end perhaps needed a bit more support when they did get the ball.

The match looked like it would be decided by a penalty shootout when Trim, who looked all at sea for his 40 minutes, rose and headed Allen's corner kick into goal from point-blank range to seal the match.

Five minutes of stoppage later and the Tigers were celebrating their first trip back to the national InterCol final since 2004, for a match against Arima North Secondary at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.