Stefon Pierre's late goal proved sufficient for the "Green Machine" of St Augustine Secondary to claim a 1-0 win over El Dorado East Secondary and retain their title in the East Zone of the Secondary Schools Football League Coca-Cola Inter-Col at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, today.
Pierre's decider came in the 77th minute when he latched onto a smartly dummied ball by team-mate Vernell Ramirez and hammered a low right footer past "El Do" goalkeeper Christian Edwards.
Overall, however the match failed to live up to all the exciting, end to end play that has become synonymous with Inter-Col as both teams struggled to get their passing game together.
The "Green Machine" which has now won three titles so far this season had the first attempt on goal in the 27th minute through Isaiah Mejias, but his effort was pushed away by Edwards in the "El Do" goal.
A minute later, "Green Machine" captain Shaquille Smith also came within inches of handing his team a 1-0 lead when he fired wide of the mark.
But against the run of play, "El Do" almost went ahead in the 31st minute when an inswinging right sided corner by Keron Hernandez almost sneaked into the far top corner, but goalkeeper Kerron Jones was alert to the danger and managed to get his fingers to the ball to turn it away for another corner.
Two minutes later with "El Do", enjoying a little bit more of the ball national Under-20 Daniel Cyrus, had another effort with a right sided free-kick which seemed destined for the top corner but, once again, Jones was equal to the task and parried it away for another corner to preserve a 0-0 scoreline at the interval.
On the resumption, "El Do" looked a team on a mission, stringing together a number of passes and controlling the midfield against an out-of-sorts St Augustine unit.
However the "Green Machine" defence marshalled by Jabari Claxton kept them at bay.
In fact, it was the "Green Machine" who nearly went ahead in the 69th minute through some individual brilliance by Shaquille Smith, who weaved his way past three defenders inside the 18-yard only to be denied by the gloves of Edwards.
Eight minutes later Pierre finally got the match winner when he collected the dummied ball and fired low and hard past Jones with his right foot to the delight of his team-mates and the supporters who had gone a bit quiet in the second-half.
With the win St Augustine added the East Zone Inter-Col crown to its zonal and national "Big-Five" league crowns.
The "Green Machine" will now come up against central zone champions, Carapichaima in the national quarterfinals on Thursday.
Despite the loss, "El Do" still qualified for the national quarterfinals and will meet south winners, Presentation College on Wednesday.
In the other national quarterfinals, Tobago winners, Mason Hall tackles St Mary's College, runner-up in the North, while North Zone winner, Queen's Royal College will face Naparima College, both on Tuesday.
Yesterday's Zonal Coca-Cola Inter-Col Finals:
East final: Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar:
ST AUGUSTINE 1(Stefon Pierre 77th) vs El DORADO EAST 0.
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