St Anthony’s College took one step further to reclaiming the Coca-Cola North Zone and National InterCol trophies after the “Tigers” won its third battle of the Saints derby this season, following a 5-4 penalty kick victory over rivals St Mary’s College, after a goalless encounter, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, yesterday.
The result sent the Westmoorings-based College into the title match, where it meets Diego Martin North Secondary, which trumped Trinity College on penalty kicks in a thrilling double-header opener.
The second match was not as eventful, but in the end, St Anthony’s College, which won every match last season, and lost just one (Big-Four semifinal) in this campaign, got the job done once again.
The “Saints”, attempted the counter-attack as it aimed to maintain the opposition’s potent offence, and did just that, as it held the “Tigers” to the final whistle in a battle of tactics from coaches Nigel Grosvenor (St Anthony’s) and Jason Edwards (St Mary’s).
In the end, it was a spot kick from midfield substitute Kadeem Corbin, who sealed the familiar spot in the final for St Anthony’s College.
The opening encounter brought together two teams, Diego Martin North and Trinity College East, which secured perhaps the upsets of this year’s InterCol over Fatima College and East Mucurapo, respectively, in the quarterfinal stage.
Diego Martin’s Keston Frederick sent the match to spot kicks when he scored the equalising goal in the final minute of play, with a wonderful lobbing strike over Trinity custodian Christopher Matthias.
Trinity, which are effectively relegated with a last placed league finish had by all indications, found a spot in the final, as it held on to the narrow lead since the fifth minute of play when Christon Gaspard found the back of the net.
Diego Martin had been a thorn in Trinity’s side throughout the campaign. In fact, the only two wins Diego Martin recorded in the league since its promotion came via 1-0 results against the same Moka-based school.
Meanwhile, down South, runaway league champion Presentation College of San Fernando found an expected berth into the semifinal stage when it whipped newly-promoted Mayaro Secondary 4-1, in the Manny Ramjohn Stadium’s double header opener.
The victory put Presentation into the semifinal where it meets the day’s other winner, St Benedict’s College which defeated Princes Town by the same scoreline.
In the feature match, defending South Zone InterCol champions made light work of its Mayaro opponents, as it came from behind in champions’ fashion with two goals in either half.
Mayaro opened in the 4th minute through a strike from Moriba Descartes, which last only up to the half-hour mark, when “Pres” started the rout. Rakeem levelled in the 31st, before they took the lead in the 40th minute, from the team’s second leading goal-scorer Chivaughn Dimsoy.
Five minutes into the second half, Under-20 national forward Shackiel Henry made a welcomed return with a goal to make it 3-1, before a Mayaro player put the match to rest with an own goal in the 51st minute.
In the second quarterfinal match, lethal attacker Yafeu Rougier scored in either half, tallied an effort from Kyle Ribiero and an own goal in the final minute, to hand Princes Town yet another heavy defeat in a mirror result of their second leg league encounter.
The wins for “Pres” and St Benedict’s put them into Friday’s semifinal, where they meet each other at the same venue, from 5 pm.
Two hours earlier, Shiva Boys and Pleasantville will challenge for the other final spot. Shiva and Pleasantville dropped Moruga and Naparima, respectively in the last-eight stage.
Semifinal action will continue in the Central and Tobago Zones, with double-headers (see fixtures below).
Results
North Zone semifinals
Diego Martin North 1 (Keston Frederick 90th+) v Trinity College 1 (Christon Gaspard 5th)
- Diego Martin won 11-10 on penalty kicks
St Anthony’s College 0 v St Mary’s College 0
- St Anthony’s won 5-4 on penalty kicks
South Zone quarterfinals
Presentation College 4 (Rakim Francis 31st, Civaughn Dimsoy 40th, Shakiel Henry 49th, OG 90th) v Mayaro 1 (Moriba Bescartes 4th)
St Benedict’s 4 (Kyle Celestine 11th, Yafeu Rougier 33rd, 63rd, OG 90th+) v Princes Town 1 (Kiel Ribiero 40th)
Fixtures Today
Central Zone InterCol semifinals
Tabaquite v Carapichaima East, Ato Boldon Stadium, 3 pm
Couva West v Chaguanas North, Ato Boldon Stadium, 5 pm
Tobago InterCol [Semifinals]
Mason Hall v Speyside, Plymouth Recreation Ground, 3 pm
Roxborough v Scarborough, Plymouth Recreation Ground, 5 pm
Tomorrow South Zone InterCol [Semifinals]
Shiva Boys v Pleasantville, Manny Ramjohn Stadium
Presentation v St Benedict’s College, Manny Ramjohn Stadium
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