Central Zone holds spotlight tomorrow
St Benedict's College's do-or-die attitude kept their season alive, as they forged a quarter-final win over Siparia Secondary in the RBTT Inter Col South Zone via kicks from the penalty spot on Monday night.
With the momentum on their side, they won the ensuing spotkick shootout 4-3 to move on in the competition.
Their prize for winning is a meeting with Naparima College on November 8 at the same venue.
"Naps" are the only unbeaten team left in the Secondary Schools Football League this season, and their 13-0 mauling of debutants Shiva Boys High School, the South Zone Senior Division winners, would ring loud and clear for "Benedict's".
St Benedict's sat and watched each of the 13 goals hit the Shiva Boys' net, after waiting for a disciplinary hearing that delayed the start of their match by more than an hour and a half.
To add insult to injury, they fell behind in the first half when their match eventually got going at roughly 6.40 p.m., not exactly the 5 p.m. start originally scheduled.
Kevin Flanders ran up to the penalty spot and slammed the ball right down the centre of the net in the 25th minute, after St Benedict's conceded a penalty, perhaps harshly so, for a handball infringement called on Radlee Edwards.
Thereafter, St Benedict's found themselves fighting to remain in the competition, and they needed an equaliser to do so.
They got it deep in the second half. First they watched Jordell Halls head past Nicholas Bhola's near post in the 78th minute. Moses showed him how to do it right, heading in a corner kick two minutes after.
St Benedict's were superior in the decisive shootout, hitting the net four times to edge past their rivals, whose 2008 season ended with the loss.
The Inter Col action now shifts to the Central Zone tomorrow, with Central League champs Carapichaima Senior Comprehensive taking on Presentation College, Chaguanas in the first match of an Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva double-header from 3 p.m. The other encounter, which kicks off at 5 p.m., features Preysal High School and Waterloo High School.
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