‘Pres’ claim South InterCol title...prevail 2-1 over Shiva Boys in penalty shoot-out

The atmosphere at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella was reminiscent of a World Cup qualifying match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium and Shiva, who were seeking to add the Intercol title to their Premier Division crown, threatened early through Quinn Rodney who flicked over the head of Mylz Barrington in the third minute to get on the edge of the 18-metre box before being fouled. 

However, Pres would settle quickly and gradually start to dominate possession with star midfielder and captain Kareem Riley orchestrating their attacks in tandem with Darnell Hospedales and Jordan Riley. 

Pres made their aggression pay in the ninth minute when Terrell Williams curled a 20-metre free kick past goalkeeper Denzil Smith to give them the lead and make up for the one he sent wide off a foul on Hospedales two minutes earlier. 

Tyrel Baptiste almost drew Shiva level six minutes on when he chipped Jabari Gray in goal for Pres, only for the ball to drop onto the top of the crossbar and out of play. 

But Pres responded with two chances of their own; first Riley (K) played James Lee Yaw played in but his weak back-heeled effort was cleared by the defence and then Riley had a searing right-footed drive from 20 metres out push brilliant over by Smith, who injured himself in the process, causing an eight minute stop to proceedings while he received medical attention. 

With Pres dominating possession and their supporters chanting, Let’s go Riley, let’s go, in support of their captain, Shiva would draw level on the half hour mark against the run of play. Judah Garcia found himself in space on the edge of the area and picked out an unmarked Baptiste, who easily beat Gray with an angled shot to the bottom right corner of goal. 

The end to end action continued with Smith tipping away a left side corner in the 40th minute, while Gray did well to deny Baptiste in the 43rd, coming off his line to narrow angle before getting his finger to the shot to nullify the attack.

Having gone into the break on level terms, Shiva began to see more of the ball in the second half and should have taken the lead in the 56th minute. Rodney did well on the left flank to get around Shirwin Noel and deliver a pinpoint cross to Ronaldo Edwards, who shot over from on the edge of the six-metre box. And in an immediate counter attack Pres was denied by Smith, who got down low to his right to reel in a Riley (K) shot after the midfielder was found with yards of space by Riley (J).

Both team began to show signs of weariness in the final 10 minutes, with their passing becoming erratic while several players began cramping up, so when Lammy unleashed a powerful left-footer that beat Smith at his near post in the 90th minute, after he was played in by Juaval Roberts, Pres thought they had the game won. But Shiva responded immediately. 

Tyrel Emmanuel spotted Gray off his line and sent a high, arching shot form within his own half of the field that eluded the back-peddling goalkeeper to land at the back of the net to spark a deafening roar from the stands and chants of “Let’s go Shiva, let’s go.

With the final whistle coming with the team locked on two goals apiece, the match went to kicks from the penalty spot to decide a winner. And it was here that Shiva imploded. Their first three kicker all failed to find the target as Rodney struck the crossbar, Baptiste struck the upright and Shaquille Williams shot overbar, while Riley (J) and Hosepdales converted for Pres.

And although Emmanuel beat Gray to keep Shiva alive, the shot blocker got it right when he went to his left to punch away Yohannes Richardson’s effort to give Pres the win. In the end coach Sean Cooper’s pre-match prediction that “lightning doesn’t strike the same place on different days”, in reference to Pres’ 3-1 loss to Shiva early in the season, proved right.