"Mucu, Mucu, Mucu, Mucu-rapo, rapo!"
The sound of the jubilant Mucurapo Secondary Comprehensive supporters rang clear in the Couva night in celebration of the school's 3-1 victory over Carapichaima Senior Comprehensive, which handed them their second-ever RBTT InterCol national title at the Ato Boldon Stadium.
"Caps", as Carapichaima are fondly known in Central, had reached only their second final and were hungry for their first title, having defeated the St Anthony's College "Tigers" and St Augustine's "Green Machine" to get there.
Mucurapo had other ideas, though, and nothing but a win would do. Manager Jimmy Arthur declared the day before: "We feel this is our time."
The golden combination of skipper Kevin Molino and Mutar Taylor made it so.
But the match, which had been goalless for the first 70 minutes, got its spark from Johan Peltier, who, after missing umpteen chances at close range, stunned Caps fans into silence with his incisive left foot shot between goalkeeper Akiel Alfred and near post.
Carapichaima needed only two minutes to fashion a reply, with substitute Shaquill Holder beating Mucurapo goalie Michael Duff to his left.
Molino must have been seeing his dreams of glory disappear after missing so many first half chances. But he shook off the cramp that had plagued him since the 62nd minute, when he sought treatment, to find Taylor on the left.
With 75 minutes on the clock, the strapping forward did the rest and the smaller "Compre" throng were basking in expectation of their crown...at long last.
Terrence Clarke, the short, wily left winger who had worked harder yesterday than had previously been seen from him this season, both in attack and defence, put the icing on Mucurapo's cake with a beautiful right side free kick that curled, swirled, dipped and ricocheted off Alfred's far post into the net.
He got a booking for removing his shirt in celebration of that fantastic goal, but it mattered little. Compre had their winner.
The first half was fraught with Mucurapo chances, but they failed to make them count. Inspirational skipper Molino had most of those chances, but he could only shoot overbar or straight at the keeper.
It seemed only a matter of time until they scored, with strikers Taylor and Peltier providing ample problems for the home team. Clarke was also a little busybody on the wing, but his fleet foot work provided opportunities that his teammates squandered.
Carapichaima pushed every man behind the ball when Mucurapo attacked and were keen to push forward. That plan almost worked once, but Woodruffe was caught marginally offside.
He and Caps' fans would have wished he took the two other chances before the break. At the final whistle, it was Mucurapo celebrating and Caps forced to wait another year.
Mucurapo wins Intercol.
...Ends 25-year drought.
By: Kwame Williams (Guardian).
The drought is over and Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive is the 2008 RBTT National Intercol champion.
It has been 25 long years since the school from Mucurapo Road, St James last clinched the coveted prize. They have been wandering in the wilderness of the Secondary Schools Football League ever since, but yesterday the awesome foursome of Kevin Molino, Mutar Taylor, Johan Peltier and Terrance Clarke guided “Compre” to the promised land.
At the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Mucurapo beat upstarts Carapichaima 3-1, with Taylor, Peltier and Clarke doing the damage for the North Zone league and Intercol winner. The victory was no more than they deserved, as “Compre” were dominant throughout, reducing “Caps” to relying on the odd counter-attack.
Mucurapo, attacking the goal to the northern end of the ground, did not look their normally confident selves in the first half however, seemingly a bit overwhelmed by the occasion. Molino in particular appeared slightly nervous as he struggled to link up with his front men.
He had a golden opportunity to give his side the lead in the 13th minute after some nice inter-passing between himself and Taylor put him through.
After neatly rounding his marker though he seemed to be caught in two minds, contemplating whether to chip the advancing “Caps” keeper, Akiel Alfred, or square for Taylor, who would have had an open goal to aim at. His indicision gave Alfred enough time to make a save.
The centralites then went close in the 21st when a long diagonal pass from Nathan James on the left beat the entire “Compre” defence, but the speedy Neil Woodruffe, the intended target of the pass, could not make a clean connection.
Clarke, by far Mucurapo’s best player in the first half, was a constant threat down the left with his nifty dribbling. His team-mates were unable to capitalise on the opportunities he carved out for them though and at the break it was goalless.
In the second half, it was much of the same—Mucurapo’s forwards missing a number of easy chances and “Caps” looking for that one good chance. Molino and Taylor were the gulity parties, Taylor scuffing his shot with the goal at his mercy and Molino, under no pressure, sending a header from a corner wide of the mark.
The central team nearly made them pay for their wastefulness in the 62nd when Kerron Gray’s well-flighted cross from the right was met by Philip Wickham, but his diving header was brilliantly saved by goalie Michael Duff.
The first goal came in the 71st, when left-back Joevin Jones saw Peltier unmarked atop the box and picked him beautifully from 25 yards away. The striker took two touches—one to settle, the other to shoot—and he picked out the bottom right corner.
The persistant “Caps” equalised two minutes later though, when Mucurapo’s backline failed to clear the rebound from a free-kick floated into the box. Substitute Shaquill Holder was on spot to tap home.
Two minutes after the equaliser, Mucurapo regained the lead on a counter-attack when a pass from Molino got Taylor behind Carapichaima’s defence. He calmly slid the ball under the onrushing Alfred, sending the “Compre” supporters into raptures.
Clarke then wrapped up the victory in the 87th with a candidate for “goal of the year” when Molino was fouled a few metres outside the box on the right. From a position of no real danger, his left-footed blast left Alfred bewildered, flying over his head and nestling in the upper right corner.
CARAPICHAIMA: - Akiel Alfred; Andre Nicholas, Dennis Hunte, Nathan James, Andre Mohammed; Michael Renaud (capt), Kerron Gray, Scott Benny (Shaquill Holder 58th), Phillip Wickham, Kevon Wilson; Neil Woodroffe.
MUCURAPO: - Michael Duff; Jasimar Ashers, Akil Rodriguez, Joel Calliste, Joevin Jones; Kenaz Williams, Stephon Jack, Terrance Clarke, Kevin Molino (capt); Johan Peltier, Mutar Taylor (Allan Joseph 90th).
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