BY SHERDON COWAN
Sunday, October 12, 2014
CHARLIE Smith High and St George’s College advanced to the semi-finals of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports’ Association (ISSA)/LIME Walker Cup knockout competition with victories over Wolmer’s Boys’ and Camperdown High, respectively, at the Constant Spring playing field yesterday.
Charlie Smith stunned Wolmer’s 2-1, while St George’s College outscored Camperdown 4-2 in the opening game of the double-header.
Charlie Smith have now booked a date with 2011 winners St George’s College.
The mouth-watering clash in the featured game which started out very shakily, had the large crowd on its feet in the latter stages of the first half. Joel Pagan opened the scoring for Wolmer’s in the 40th minute with a well-driven shot from the edge of the 18-yard box, which eluded a diving Leon Taylor in goal for Charlie Smith.
However, Charlie Smith fired back in the 45th minute through a powerfully driven free kick by defender Odane Samuels from close to the half-line that burst through the hands of Dane Lee, who did duties in goal for Wolmer’s.
Charlie Smith’s marksman Bebeto McDonald then sent his team to the break 2-1 up when he drove home a firm right-footer from close range in time added.
The scores would remain unchanged for the remainder of the game as both teams failed to capitalise on chances created in what was an even more action-packed half.
Wolmer’s talismanic player Jaheel Hyde brought the crowd to its feet when he eluded two Charlie Smith defenders and rifled a long-range left-footed shot which sailed over the crossbar.
McDonald replied for Charlie Smith shortly after with a display of nippy footwork to get by a defender and fire a curling shot which came back off the upright.
Winning coach Jerome Waite lauded his team for a spirited performance.
“It was a very tactical game and very physical. Wolmer’s is a much stronger team than the Charlie Smith team, but today (yesterday) the youngsters rose above expectations.
“This is a team that defeated us last year and went on to win the Walker Cup and we were definitely looking to return that favour and these players have done it well today,” he said.
Waite added that sterling defensive work by Samuels to keep Jaheel Hyde out of the game resulted in his team coming out victorious.
Meanwhile, Wolmer’s coach Ludlow Bernard was left disappointed with the loss, but took some positives from the encounter.
“I am going to look on the positive side of the loss here today. I think it will awaken our little slumber and allow us to regenerate and come forward again. I have no doubt we still have the quality, and it is unfortunate again our ‘keeper let us down. But then again that is something that we have to deal with and sort it out properly,” he lamented.
The pipe-opener between St George’s College and Camperdown High was expected to be a thriller and it lived up to its billing. In the end it was the North Street-based outfit who came out victors through a brace from Shevon Stewart in the 18th and 45th minutes, and a goal each from Amoy Brown in the 16th, and Gregory Messam Jr in the 90th, while Kevin Clarke in the 45th and Ramish McKnight in the 88th, were the goal scorers for Camperdown.
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Charlie Smith stun Wolmer’s 2-1
