Bishop Anstey win Intercol in style

Ranae Ward netted a hat-trick while Brittney Williams added two as Bishop Anstey humiliated Pleasantville 6-0 today, at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, to claim the Coca-Cola National Girls Intercol title.

Pleasantville entered the game as favourites, but they were second best from start to finish to a Bishop team spurred on by a lively and vocal group of students and staff members. Bishop were clearly the better team and banged in goals from all directions past Celine Hypolite in the Pleasantville goal who was in tears before the final whistle sounded.

Ward, a diminutive central midfielder, opened the floodgates in the third minute through a freekick, which looped over the wall, struck the right post, and nestled to the back of Hypolite’s goal.

Hypolite’s nightmare afternoon between the sticks got even worse in the 23rd minute when Ward converted a penalty, after referee Cecile Hinds ruled for a hand-ball by defender Shawnelle Rose.

In a rare opportunity for Pleasantville, captain Latifha Pascall tried her luck with a freekick which was safely held by the impressive Bishop Anstey goalkeeper Klil Keshwar.

The game was virtually over as a contest in the 50th when defender Williams blasted home a penalty, after her skipper Leah Dos Santos was taken down in the box by Hypolite.

Ward played a crucial role in Bishop Anstey fourth goal in the 64th, surging down the right past a number of flat-footed defenders, before she squared the ball to the path of Chantal Murrell. The striker, inside the penalty box, controlled the ball and shot against the back of defender Dinesha Williams and into the goal.

A pair of audacious long-range efforts, from 35 metres out, ended Pleasantville’s misery.

In the 69th, Williams caught Hypolite unawares with a successful effort, which embarrassed the 'keeper to such an extent that she needed the support of teammate Jasandra Joseph as well as a a word from referee Hinds to continue.

And a similar occurrence took place in the 77th, after Ward’s speculative right-footed effort bounced past her for a deserved hat-trick.