Speyside, Mucurapo clash at Shaw Park

However, the BGtTT/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football (SSFL) Tobago Zonal champs and the Tobago InterCol winners, Speyside, are hungry for their first national title this season.

After the Naparima College—inaugural SSFL Premier Division and Big Four champs—triple crown bid was derailed by a resilient St Benedict’s College in the south final last week (2-1 in Benedict’s favour), Speyside will be looking to add the national knockout title to complete a season in which they domiated the Tobago zone.

But East Mucurapo, who finished last in the SSFL Premoer Division and consequently relegated to the SSFL Championship division come next year, have re-organised since the end of the regular round robin competition and look a newly sharpened side for this stage of the season.

After drubbing Diego Martin Central 9-0 in their North Zone InterCol preliminary encounter on November 10, the Mucurapo Road school, commonly referred to by its ex-pupils as “Compre”, have rebounded with two gritty performances.

In the first instance, against the much-vaunted St Anthony’s College Tigers (5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation time) in the zonal semi-finals,then holding their nerve against St Mary’College (3-2 on penalties after 0-0 draw in regulation) in the final.

Those two gutsy performances showed the “Compre” boys are proficient with their spot kicks as head coach Selris Figaro’s team won both those games when kicks from the penalty mark were required to break the deadlock at the end of regulation time.

Manager Brinsley Hudson said the team had refocussed after the disappointment of being demoted for next season. And they were rewarded with their first North Zone InterCol title since 2004.

It is a facet of expertise—penalty shootout—that the boys from sister isle should be aware, or at least be wary, of the Mucurapo unit, and so put pressure on them to win the game in regular time.

Speyside dispatched Goodwood 4-1 at the semi-final zonal stage before easing past rivals and Tobago zonal league runners-up Signal Hill 5-2 at Plymouth on November 16. Speyside will also want to exploit the advantage of home court, and will be pinging their hopes on Brandon Benjami, who scored a brace in that zonal final win, with assistance from Weah Adams and Kerry Mc Donald.

The Tobago side will also have to breach the acrobatics of arguably the country’s best under 20 goalkeeper, Aaron Enil. Meanwhile, Mucurapo will be depending on the potency of striker Tekay Hoyce and their passing game to get them past the Tobago champs.

Whichever team employ their tactics and game strategy better on the day will advance to the second national semi-final match on Friday, in which San Juan North Secondary awaits the winner at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar.