One strike from second half substitute Kadeem Boyce was all it took to send Carapichaima East Secondary flying into the BG T&T/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) "Big Five" final for the very first time.
But the Central Zone champions had to withstand almost 40 minutes of constant pressure from Shiva Boys Hindu College at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, before a great finish by Boyce handed them the 1-0 win in second half stoppage.
Fans would have surely understood the distress of a sobbing Shiva captain Tevin Peters after the match, following a passionate display by his team, and an aggressive offensive effort. But when it came down to it, they just could not find the go-ahead goal.
And Boyce stole the match with a nice first-time effort from 18 metres, set up by his skipper Shaquille Holder, his strike sending Adrian Lewis, the Shiva goalkeeper, the wrong way. It was not the prettiest of encounters, but Carapichama made their only real close look at goal count in the end.
Carapichaima will now meet the winners of today's final between El Dorado East Secondary and St Anthony's College.
The early first half exchanges made it clear that there was little between the teams. Carapichaima had the first offensive move, but they soon learned Shiva were just as quick.
In fact, Shiva could have gone ahead first if not for an acrobatic save to deny Shiva forward Aswad Lake. And in the 19th, Kyle Thomas had a shot at goal from 24 metres with space and time, but muffed the attempt.
Carapichaima enjoyed good, lively passing themselves, but like Shiva, they failed to find that final touch in the attacking third.
Caps tried their shots from distance too to beat the compact Shiva backline, but midfielder Treverson Calliste hit wide, and Kareem Ryce's effort was too weak.
As they returned from the break, Shiva turned up the heat. Perhaps, their best chance of the half came from second half substitute Shaquille Jogie, who headed over from close range, prompting shouts of "ooh" and "ahh" from the crowd. Substitutes Kieron Moses and Shavon Diaz also had near misses.
The final minutes belonged to Carapichaima, with Ryce hitting the Shiva wall off a close range free kick in the 90th, and they had two nice attacking movements crowded out in stoppage time.
But the third try Caps made count, and the reward is their first Big Five final.
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