El Do grabs InterCol title on penalty kicks

It was the third successive match in which the Easterners won by that route. National call-up Shahdon Winchester denied the “Blue Thunder” from winning inside regulation time when he pulled a goal back for Naps in the second half, after Xavier Ravanales gave the visiting team the lead at the half-hour mark in the first session.

The game started at a fast and furious pace with both teams looking to get the opener. A number of opportunities by both sides went abegging.

While El Do had its chances, Naps was the better-looking team, holding ball possession by stringing together a number of passes. El Do stunned the Southerners in the 30th minute when the ball came off a defender from a right side play and landed at the feet of Ravanales.'

Blinded by his defenders, goalkeeper Keinol Paul was unable to get to Ravanales’ shot, which went into the far post.

El Do had the misfortune of losing a player four minutes later when referee Lee Davis gave marching orders to Keron Hernandez for violent conduct. Hernandez and opposing attacker Stephen Joseph were involved in a physical altercation.

Joseph was hit with a yellow card for his role in the incident. Before half-time, El Do, with its ten men, withstood a couple of dangerous-looking attacks from Naps.

Six minutes into the second period, Christian Edwards, the El Do ‘keeper, made a big save to deny an Andre Matthew shot from on the edge of the six-yard box from going in. Three minutes later, Winchester sent a right foot shot just wide of the far post after getting past three defenders.

Following those close shaves, Naps kept the ball in El Do’s half for long periods, and was eventually rewarded in the 71st minute. Dangerman Winchester was the marksman, squeezing the ball under Edwards from inside the 18-yard box.

The goal forced El Do to come out of its defensive mood in order to find the game winner, which never came. In the resulting penalty shoot-out, Naps netted its first three kicks but was let down by Jared Bennett and Daquielle Matthews. Second kicker for El Do Daneil Cyrus missed when his shot was saved by Paul.

However, the last three kickers, Harmony Munroe, Khavior Graham and Keelon Joseph scored. El Do had previously beaten Presentation and St Mary’s on penalties on its way to the final.

El Do, Debe emerge champions.
...edge Naps, Signal Hill for Boys, Girls titles
By: Kern De Freitas (T&T Express).

For almost their entire InterCol season, El Dorado East Secondary have been considered underdogs. But yesterday, their Cinderella run culminated in the biggest prize of the Secondary Schools Football League- ’El Do’ are the new Coca Cola InterCol champions.

Earlier, Debe High School’s girls completed the clean sweep with an unbeaten campaign the second year running, stopping Signal Hill Secondary 1-0 on a ninth-minute Elizabeth Ng Wai goal to take home the BG T&T Girls InterCol trophy. Debe, who were without influential captain and forward Mariah Shade.

Shade suffered a thigh injury for Trinidad and Tobago against Jamaica recently, but Debe were too much to handle for Signal Hill, who struggled to make any impact on the proceedings.

A defiant El Dorado turned back the mighty Naparima College at their ’home’ venue, Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, with a determined 4-3 win on kicks at the penalty spot, despite being down a player for all of 56 minutes.

After a 1-1 regulation deadlock, the ’Blue Thunder’ sounded loudly their desire for the InterCol title, overcoming an early missed spot kick to seal the deal.

Their talisman, national Under-20 player Daneil Cyrus, missed their second kick after Naps had scored both theirs. But El Do goalkeeper Christian Edwards saved the fourth, Daquielle Matthews missed the fifth, and El Dorado’s Keelon Joseph finished things to hand El Dorado only their second InterCol crown, their only other national accolade since their 1986 triumph.

Considering the opening exchanges, it was perhaps not totally surprising that El Dorado went in at the break leading 1-0, but that was an impressive feat, considering they fell a man short a few minutes after scoring.

The opening minutes were all about Naparima’s steady attack versus El Dorado’s sturdy defence. The East InterCol runners-up took no chances with Shahdon Winchester, Naps’ main offensive threat, double and triple-teaming him and even giving up a few free kicks to him early on.

Still, Naparima did not make their chances count.

Winchester hesitated on a couple of passes while captain Anthony Parris shot tamely at El Dorado goalkeeper Christian Edwards, and Brandon Neptune and Andre Matthew shot too far off the mark to trouble Edwards.

Revanales had El Do’s first real chance but opted to pass in the area rather than shoot, with very little support.

He did, however, shock the ’home’ supporters of Naparima, firing home a low shot off the far post in the 30th from around the penalty spot after an initial rebound from a shot.

The first intermission came in the 35th, unfortunately not the halftime break, but a scuffle between two opposing players, resulting in Keron Hernandez of El Dorado earning a quick trip to the showers and Steven Joseph of Naparima seeing yellow.

In the first 20 minutes after the half-time break, the Blue Thunder were forced to withstand the traumatic onslaught Naparima delivered.

Edwards (C) denied Matthew with his legs in the 50th and within the next ten minutes, Naps midfielder Dwayne Edwards and Winchester each caused El Dorado hearts to race, both with threatening long-range shots and then near misses from close up.

But Edwards (C) committed the cardinal sin of football, dropping an easy take from a long range try. El Dorado tried to scramble away the ball but it fell for Winchester, and he couldn’t miss from inside the penalty area. But neither team could change the 1-1 score before the final whistle and then El Do came through when it counted most.