San Fernando Lions, Westmoorings Tigers hunt Intercol title on Thursday

Despite slow starts to the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) premiership this year, Presentation College San Fernando and St Anthony’s College have weathered the storm and will battle for the season’s most prestigious prize – Coca-Cola National Boys Intercol – at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on Thursday, from 5.15pm.

Coaches of the San Fernando Lions and Westmoorings Tigers, Sean Cooper and Ronald Daniel respectively, both agree their teams did not have the best league finish – Pres fourth and St Anthony’s fifth – but have improved as the season progressed.

Pres, south zone Intercol champions, advanced to the trophy match after staving off Arima North 1-0 in semi-final two at Mahaica Oval in Point Fortin on Thursday. On Friday, St Anthony’s, north zone Intercol winners, booked their title shot after edging Tobago champions 1-0 at the stadium.

On his team’s improvement over the past six weeks, Cooper said his players are competitively maturing.

“The boys are elated that they’ve qualified for the final. Nobody expected us to reach this far, (because of) how we really started the competition, seeing that, although we were top four, we haven’t been scoring a lot of goals. But on the flip side, not a lot of goals have been scoring against us. The Intercol is a one game and not a league.

“I think most of the guys are inexperienced. And as the league went on they started to get comfortable and adjust. They started to take all the information on board and grew (from) strength to strength.”

Pres last won the national Intercol title in 2019, the last season before the pandemic stifled the competition until 2022.

Additionally, this year, the school cricket team – coached by Rydell Ramsaran – made history by capturing an unprecedented treble of the PoweGen Secondary Schools Cricket League and T20 Intercol tournaments, and the KFC T10 Golden Cup.

Cooper said he wants to create more history for the south school by adding the football Intercol title to their trophy cabinet.

“It’s familiar stomping ground (final) for us. We are trying to see if we could be the first school to win both cricket and football Intercol titles. We’re trying to have a first, and not only that, this is our 75th year, and it would be wonderful for us to win, for the anniversary,” he added.

Likewise, St Anthony’s coach Daniel believes his squad has matured over the season. He wants them to carry the same winning mentality from their last few matches into the final, and lift the school’s first domestic title for the concluding season.

“The team is carrying a very good momentum. They’re prepared and ready and their destination is in their hands. St Anthony’s started off a bit shaky in the premiership, but we started to, and continued to improve,” Daniel said.

Asked what was altered to create a shift in the team’s competitiveness as the season progressed, he told Newsday the Intercol title was his main target for 2023.

“We have continuously kept training and focusing on our objectives. The Intercol title was my aim this year. The boys are in high spirits and are going to give a good performance.”

Before the boys’ final, the Coca-Cola National Girls Intercol final kicks off at the same venue from 3pm.

Pleasantville Secondary battle Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School, after both secured slim victories in their respective semi-finals.

The former defeated reigning girls’ Big 5 champions Scarborough Secondary 1-0 in Carnbee, Tobago, and the latter eked out a 3-2 triumph against St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain.