San Juan complete East Zone Coca-Cola intercol double

San Juan North Secondary became the second school to cop a Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Coca-Cola zonal intercol double this week when both their boys' and girls' teams won their east zone intercol finals at the Arima Velodrome on November 20.

San Juan girls' team clinched their zonal intercol final in dramatic fashion as they defeated Five Rivers Secondary by a 4-2 margin on penalty kicks after a goalless stalemate through regulation time.

Five Rivers, the girls' east zone championship division winners, did the hard running in the 80 minutes of regular time. National under-15 star and four-goal semifinal hero Hackeema Goodridge and Five Rivers captain Shaquilla Daniel came closest with efforts from long range in the second half as their team racked up 20 shots to San Juan's three.

Crucially, Five Rivers were unable to get past Myeisha Cox in the San Juan goal, and the 16-year-old custodian was the star of the shootout as she came up clutch with two big saves. First, Cox went to her left to stop Five Rivers' first penalty, before diving splendidly to her right to stop a firm effort from Daniel on Five Rivers' third attempt.

San Juan were perfect on their first three attempts, and although Keyana Daniel sprayed her right-footed attempt wide on San Juan's fourth kick, Taya Williams' conversion on the subsequent kick sparked wild celebrations from her teammates.

On Monday, Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School captured the central zone intercol double with contrasting wins in their boys' and girls' finals at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

And after San Juan North's schoolboys watched their schoolmates claim the east zone girls' intercol crown, the boys' team followed suit when they defeated Trinity College East by a 2-1 margin in a tense final.

Two years ago, a solitary second-half goal from former national youth player Jaheim Faustin gave Trinity East their maiden east zone intercol title as they pulled off an upset against the boys from Bourg Mulatresse.

In the 2024 east zone intercol final, though, coach Jerry Moe's San Juan team were in no mood to be denied, and first-half goals by the tireless Jelani Valentine and Jaheem Danclar steered them to a seventh zonal intercol trophy.

It wasn't an easy road for San Juan, and they were made to show their resilience after a plucky Trinity team took the lead in the 28th minute through their skipper and talisman Khaleem Prince.

Trinity finished 13th in the premier division season and just avoided the drop when the 14th-placed Speyside High School lost 4-2 to East Mucurapo Secondary in a rescheduled fixture on Monday. Trinity's plan was clear, as they opted for a route one method to exploit San Juan's backing and utilise the pace of Prince and Jonathan Emrith.

San Juan goalie D'Andre Giddens had an uncomfortable start to the clash as he was second-best on numerous occasions after racing out of his box.

In the 17th minute, Prince hit an effort off the base of the post after a mixup between Giddens and a San Juan defender, with the Trinity attacker dragging another shot wide five minutes later after a deep Uzochi Bacchus free kick left Giddens in no man's land.

Near the half-hour mark, San Juan were duly punished when Prince headed in from close range after the opposition failed to deal with a right-side corner.

San Juan came close when their danger man Lindell Sween had a left-footed hit palmer away in the 19th minute. But they weren't kept at bay for long as Valentine scored with a precise right-footed finish past Alexis Ambrose in the 33rd minute after pouncing on a loose pass at the back.

San Juan began to turn up the heat, and winger Jadiel Joseph was agonisingly denied in the 41st minute when defender Ethan Fortune put his body on the line to stop a goalbound effort.

In first-half stoppage-time, Fortune had a lapse as he needlessly gave away a corner. From the ensuing set piece, Danclar rose highest to nod in the in-swinging service from Sween.

Danclar started off the season as an attacker before being converted to left-back. And it was his attacking instinct which proved to be the winning touch in Arima.

San Juan defended with a deeper backline in the second half, and effectively negated Trinity's long ball ploy. Prince had a few bright moments in the second half with his nifty skill, but he didn't get the time and space he was afforded in the first period.

At the other end, Valentine kept Ambrose alert with a cross which nearly sneaked in at the back post in the 55th minute, with the former volleying well over the bar seconds later after a Sween corner.

The chances were few and far between in the second half, as the teams battled for territory in the midfield where San Juan's Daniel Lewis put in a particularly rugged shift.

On the rare occasion when Prince broke free of the San Juan defence in the 77th minute, he rifled a right-footed shot into Giddens' side-netting from a difficult angle.

It was the last big chance Trinity got in the game, and their dreams of copping a second east zone intercol title in three years were dashed.

On November 28, San Juan will contest the national intercol semis against the north zone intercol champ. They will hope their season ends with another national intercol trophy similar to the 2016 campaign.