Goals from Jordan Devonish and Ricardo John saw St Augustine Secondary defend their Coca-Cola Inter-Col East Zone title with a 2-0 win over El Dorado West Secondary, yesterday.
Playing in the opening match of a double-header at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the Green Machine soared into Wednesday’s national semifinal against shock South Zone champion, Princes Town Secondary, with a gutsy performance.
The second match, the North Zone final, ended with a win for Fatima who defeated Mucurapo on penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw. Mucurapo opened the scoring in the 5th minute through Aaqil Campbell but Fatima’s captain Brendon Creed drew his team level in the 14th minute before Arvin Prescod put them ahead four minutes later.
However, Campbell scored again in the 45th minute to square the match. In the penalty kick off, Fatima scored four times to their opponents’ two. Fatima will meet the winner of Monday’s qualifier between Speyside Secondary (Tobago) and Chaguanas North (Central) in the semifinal on Friday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
In the opening fixture, El Dorado West enjoyed a better start than St Augustine and should have gone into a half-time lead but weak finishing proved their downfall.
However, coach Michael Grayson’s half-time half pep talk evidently spurred on the Green Machine and within a minute of the second half, their top scorer Ricardo John almost gave his team the lead, but his header from a direct long throw was saved by El Dorado goalkeeper Shaquan Henry.
Almost immediately, Henry found himself on a one-on-one situation with the speedy Devonish who put the ball on his favoured right foot, before slotting one into the back of the net to give his team the lead.
The goal followed continued action as St Augustine controlled possession. National Under-17 midfielder Aikim Andrew, who has had an outstanding season for St Augustine, went clear in the 56th minute and from a difficult angle opted to shoot, but his effort smashed into the side netting.
El Do almost pulled level in the 70th minute when Aklil Thomas’ header was cleared off the line. El Do’s decision to throw caution to the wind in search of the equaliser ultimately cost them when John beat their defensive line and worked his way past Henry to boot into an empty net to make the score 2-0, and put his team into the next round.
Results
East Zone InterCol final
St Augustine Secondary 2 (Jordan Devonish 47th, Ricardo John 82nd) v El Dorado West 0
North Zone InterCol final
Fatima College 2 (Brendon Creed 14th, Arvin Prescod 19th) v East Mucurapo 2 (Aaqil Campbell 5th, 45th).
Fatima advance 4-2 on penalty kicks.
Fixtures
National Quarterfinal
Speyside Secondary (Tobago) v Chaguanas North (Central), Shaw Park, 6 pm
Wednesday
National Semifinal
Princes Town (South) v St Augustine (East), Venue TBD
November 29
National Semifinal
Fatima/Mucurapo v Speyside/Chaguanas, Hasely Crawford Stadium
December 3
National Final
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