Sidebar

28
Thu, Mar

Typography

The job is not finished! Those were the words of Presentation College San Fernando head coach Sean Cooper, following his team’s 2-1 penalty shoot-out victory over Shiva Boys’ Hindu College in Friday’s Coca-Cola South Zone InterCol final, at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.

“We would like to be national champions, so the preparation will continue. It’s been since 2013 or 2014 we were Big Five champions, so I think it’s time for us to be national champions once again, and we’ll be leaving no stones unturned to achieve that.”

Cooper said while his players handled the situation commendably, he had to deal with a bit of overcon­fi­dence leading up to the match. 

“They were a bit too confident for me because yesterday (Thursday), I wasn’t pleased with the way how they participated in the training session, so I had to stop the session and let them know that nothing isn’t won yet until we hold the trophy in our hands. We were close on several occasions before and let it slip away, so this time we weren’t about to let it slip,” Cooper said.

When asked what was different on Friday from his team’s 3-1 loss to Shiva at the start of the Premier Division season, Cooper said: “We weren’t prepared for the start of the season. We were three weeks into preparation and the players weren’t match sharp. 

“After the game, I was asked a similar question and I said come later on in the season, you’ll see the true Presentation when everybody is sharp and ready to play tactically strong, and where we’ll fill up all the gaps we left open. And it paid dividends because today vindicated what I said before.”

The reserved coach said he did not believe their InterCol triumph made amends for that loss, which saw them finish second to Shiva in the race for the Premiership title. 

“Every game to me is a different game, and I know that once we come to the ‘big yard’ on this surface, it’s difficult for them to beat us. Our players like a nice surface where they can pass around the ball. Shiva Boys have some good technicians on the ball also, so it was a spectators’ game. I think it was a final of all finals and spectators couldn’t ask for more than what they got.”

Cooper dedicated the win to two former players and his two sons. “I want to dedicate this victory to two fallen brothers who played for the school, one who I knew personally, Daniel Quashie. This game was dedicated to him, and my two sons, Cody and Shaquille, they lost primary school and preliminaries in the Intercol this year, so I think taking home a medal to them would bring some joy to their hearts and they will strive for excellence,” Cooper said.

Next SSFL Matches