Mykhael Bain was off the field nursing a sore knee when the final whistle went at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium last evening. The industrious captain of St Anthony's College had nevertheless made the most telling contribution in the RBTT InterCol national quarterfinal--he had put the defending champions out of the competition.
The win for the "Tigers" ended for this year Naps' attempt to add to their record six national InterCol crowns and it was a testimony to the pluck of the St Anthony's squad.
Even when hammered 5-2 in last week's North final by Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive, the Tigers showed a never-say-die spirit which served them very well yesterday.
They needed it against a Naps team who were unbeaten this season and, in InterCol especially, have had more fight than most over the years.
The task was especially harder for St Anthony's yesterday after they went behind after only about 11 minutes when Cory Cyrus collected a through ball, was not picked up by the defence and coolly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Sheldon Clarke, who replaced Jamal Francois in goal from the North final.
The St Anthony's backline did not look the most secure part of their game throughout the match. And with their most potent attacking force, Qian Grovesnor, not having his most influential game this season, the Tigers seemed to lack a spark for an equaliser.
Dint of effort changed all that, however.
On 36 minutes, Travis Joseph forced his way in from the left flank, into the penalty area and went down, somewhat theatrically, under a tackle. And the midfielder was triumphant when the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Grovesnor stepped forward and placed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of keeper Jodel Wright's net.
St Anthony's had drawn level just when they had been trying to assert themselves. And they made the most of this boost to their confidence, winning more possession in the final third and, crucially, getting the next goal.
Again it was sheer InterCol determination that created it.
Micah Lewis chased down a ball on the counter-attack on the right side of the 18-metre box, just beat the last defender to the ball, evaded the on-rushing keeper and slipped the ball across to his captain Bain. The rest of the Naparima defence was hopelessly out of the play, so the skipper just had to put the ball over the line in minute 44.
It was the perfect way for the "Tigers" to cap off their rally. And in the second half, they hung on doggedly.
For once Naparima could not fashion a reply. They created little to really trouble their opponents, not even their main strike threat, skipper Shahdon Winchester.
On this day, the captain's honours went to Bain.
Also tasting sweet victory yesterday were the girls from Debe High School who won the national Girls InterCol crown when they beat Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive 2-0 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
Kaylan Taylor and Elizabeth Ng Wai got the goals for Debe.
Today, boys quarter-final action will continue with Mucurapo meeting East runners-up Arima Senior Comprehensive at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The winners of this match will face Presentation College San Fernando in the semis. Yesterday, Pres kept their season going by whipping Scarborough Secondary 4-0, also at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
Yesterday's RBTT InterCol scores:
Girls Final
Debe High 2 (Kaylan Taylor, Elizabeth Ng Wai) v Signal Hill 0
National Quarter-finals
Naparima 1 (Cory Cyrus) v St Anthony's 2 (Qian Grovesnor pen, Mykhael Bain)
Scarborough 0 v Presentation 4 (Shimon Joseph, Jamal Mohammed, Kai Tope- Cupid, Wesley John)
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