Scarborough Secondary and Speyside Secondary were crowned champions of their respective girls' and boys' Coca-Cola Tobago intercol tournaments on Wednesday, with both teams getting 1-0 wins in their finals at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
In the girls' final, Scarborough, the reigning Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Big 5 champions, turned back Signal Hill Secondary in the first game of the doubleheader. Signal Hill won the girls' national Intercol last year as they defeated Five Rivers Secondary in the final. Scarborough ensured there would be no repeat for the girls from Signal Hill though, as a 57th item by Makaylah Robley secured the title for the former team.
Scarborough will have their eyes on two national titles this year, as they will also contest the Big 5 final against Five Rivers. The arrangements for the Big 5 final are still to be determined by the SSFL.
In the boys' Intercol finale between Speyside and Bishop's High School, a stop-start and scrappy encounter was settled by a fortuitous goal for Speyside in the 12th minute, owing to a goalkeeping blunder by Kristeon McEachnie. The lone goal in the game came from the boot of flanker Shyon George, whose 25-yard, right-footed shot trickled through McEachnie's legs and into the net. Such was the elation from the Speyside team, one of George's teammates ran towards the covered stands and took a flag from a spectator and waved it wildly as he ran along the track before celebrating with his team.
The second half of the encounter was not quite as exciting, as both teams struggled to put together consistent passes or spells of sustained pressure. Referee CJ O'Brien was arguably the busiest man in the second half, as he constantly motioned for the physios to come onto the field as several players from both teams suffered with cramps - bringing the game to an almost pedestrian pace in the latter stages.
By the time a whopping 12 minutes of stoppage time elapsed, the boys from Tobago's countryside, Speyside, were crowned as the island's Intercol champions. Speyside now advance to the national intercol semi-finals on December 1.
The North zone intercol final between Queen's Royal College and St Anthony's College will be played at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Thursday from 4.15 pm. Arima North Secondary (East zone) and Chaguanas North Secondary (Central zone) have lifted the other boys' zonal Intercol titles on offer thus far. In the national Intercol semi-finals, Speyside will play either Chaguanas North or the winners of the North zone.
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