St Anthony's College and Fatima College both marched on in the 2008 RBTT Inter Col North Zone with victories over Trinity College and Malick Secondary Comprehensive, respectively, yesterday.
Fatima, meanwhile, ended relegated Malick Secondary Comprehensive's woeful season with a 4-1 scoreline at QRC's Hayes Street, St Clair ground.
St Anthony's looked the better team for most of their encounter, played on a saturated Fatima pitch, but Trinity, down 2-0 by the 63rd minute, found some fight towards the end which resulted in their goal. But that fight came just a little too late to affect the outcome of the match.
Trinity could have gone ahead on 15 minutes, though, but the diminutive St Anthony's goalkeeper Jamal Francois was alert enough to stifle Kendall Sealy's poke at the near post with his feet.
Qian Grosvenor responded for St Anthony's at the other end, but missed the near post with his shot off the loose ball.
Five minutes later, Grosvenor also provided a pin-point cross to Bradley Lawrence, whose header was too high.
The pressure they applied finally paid off in the 29th, with Lawrence and company again trying to scramble the ball home. It fell at the feet of right winger Micah Lewis and he hammered home to give them a 1-0 half time lead.
Lewis could have made it 2-0 before the break, but was denied by some astute defending from left back Brian Andrews.
St Anthony's continued their search for the insurance goal and substitute striker Travis Joseph provided it. Almost immediately after coming on, he found himself involved in a one-on-one in the 18-metre area and finished neatly to hand his team the eventual winner.
Caresquero had the crowd gasping with a beautiful individual run down the right flank, twisting a defender one way, then the next before hammering a left-footed drive past Francois.
Too little, too late it proved, with the Tigers grabbing the win to book a date with Fatima on November 10, in search of a North Zone final berth.
Chad De Freitas buried Fatima's first goal from the penalty spot, while Ross Russell Jr scored on either side of half-time for 3-0 cushion.
Malick's Keon Serette gave his team a look in with their lone goal, before Kevon Durham put the match beyond doubt for Fatima with a late item.
Yesterday's RBTT Inter Col results:
North Zone
St Anthony's 2 (Micah Lewis 29th, Travis Joseph 63rd) Trinity 1 (Joel Caresquero 86th)
Fatima College 4 (Chad De Freitas [P], Ross Russell Jr 2, Kevon Durham) Malick 1 (Keon Serette)
Tobago Zone
Scarborough 4 Goodwood High 0
Russell double sinks Malick.
By: Kwame Williams (Guardian).
Ross Russell Junior scored twice for Fatima College yesterday as the St James outfit booked a place in the semifinal round of the RBTT North Zone Intercol competition with a 4-1 win over Malick Senior Comprehensive at QRC Grounds, St Clair.
Russell, who happens to be the son of former T&T goalkeeper Ross Russell, got a goal on either side of the half-time interval.
Fatima started brighter than its opponent and took the lead within five minutes, after striker Chad de Freitas was fouled in the box by Malick’s Randy Primus. De Freitas coolly converted the resulting spot-kick.
The North Zone league runner-up doubled its lead in the 32nd, when forward Kern Robinson neatly dribbled his marker on the right flank and delivered a teasing cross which the Malick defence failed to clear convincingly. Russell kept his concentration and volleyed home the looping rebound.
Things were no different in the second half, with Fatima enjoying the lion’s share of possession and Malick struggling to mount a meaningful attack.
The team from Barataria showed why they finished bottom of the table when some amateurish defending in the 60th minute yielded a third Fatima goal.
The back-line was slow to close down de Freitas in the box and the Fatima goal-poacher stung Mushinton’s palms with a firm right-footed drive. Russell was first to the rebound and, under no pressure, expertly lobbed the keeper from less than 10 yards out.
Malick got a goal in fortuitous fashion when Fatima custodian John Thomas’ attempted clearance hit Malick’s Keon Serrette and rebounded into the net.
Kevon Durham, who worked hard up front for Fatima all evening, rounded off the scoring in the 80th when he tapped in a cross from Drayton. The match could have easily ended 6-1, but substitutes Ryan Williams and Keron Doldron missed two simple chances from close range.
Tempers flared in time added on when Malick’s Jabari Andell took offence to a tackle on him by defender Marvin Baptiste. He appeared to fire a punch at his marker, resulting in a shoving match between the teams.
The referee took no action against any of the players involved though and blew off the match shortly afterwards.
RESULTS
Intercol Quarterfinals
North Zone
Fatima 4 (Chad de Freitas, Ross Russell Jnr (2), Kevon Durham) vs Malick 1 (Keon Serrette)
St Anthony's 2 (Micah Lewis, Travis Joseph) vs Trinity 1 (Joel Caresquero).
Tobago Zone
Scarborough 4 (Christopher Morgan, Jerron Quashie, Kursyl Vincent, Shannon Sandy) vs Goodwood High 0.
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