It took a very special footballer to make the difference between San Juan Secondary and Naparima College yesterday. In the end, Elijah Manners the captain lifted the 2007 BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League Big-Five title at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
In the seventh minute of the match before many fans could have settled in their seats, the eastern team took the lead after a shot on goal was re-directed into his own goal by Naparima’s Isiah Smith. This gave San Juan the early advantage and they completely dominated the first 15 minutes of the match.
Naps, however, battled to prevent a further strike and in the 20th minute, they were gifted with an own goal.
Goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel had pulled down a lob and with Naparima’s Cory Cyrus closing in, he slipped on the ball which trickled into his own net.
Soon after the resumption, Jayson Joseph could have given Naps the lead as he ran down the right flank, only to have his shot blocked by a San Juan defender. In the 69th minute the Naps’ Cyrus was thwarted by keeper Samuel who parried away his attempt.
At this point it was Naps all the way and in the 73rd minute against the run of play, Manners began his show, first driving a low shot to the right of keeper Curtis Julien to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Naps, however kept on fighting and was rewarded with a goal after a defensive blunder in the 81st minute between defender Jamal Spencer and Samuel which allowed Cyrus to tap the ball into an open net for a 2-2 scoreline.
With the minutes ticking away both teams went in search of the winner, as the action shifted from end to end.
Manners was able to come up with the winner with two minutes left, battling two defenders and making room to drive past a hapless Julien, that sparked wild scenes of celebration among the San Juan fans who made the long trek to San Fernando. The win for San Juan was sweet revenge for its 1-0 loss to Naps in the 2005 final and also marked its second national league triumph, and first since 1983 for the reigning national Inter-Col champions.
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