2 weeks ago
7
ST ELIZABETH Technical High School (STETHS) were crowned champions of the Ben Francis competition yesterday following their 3-1 victory over Clarendon College at the National Stadium, courtesy of goals from Kaieem Lewis, Henry Johnson, and Jordon Blake.
Clarendon College, who surrendered their daCosta Cup title earlier this season, were eager to end the year with silverware. They started off looking sharp as Dameon Simms broke free of his marker in the 10th minute but his right-footed shot found the hands of STETHS’ goalkeeper Johnoi Steadman. Clarendon College would continue to enjoy the game’s early chances as Dusean Pettgrave, in the 23rd minute, found space in the box but failed to convert, lifting his shot above the bar.
While Clarendon College were missing their chances, their opponents captured the moment through Lewis, who broke free of his marker and expertly guided his chance inside the Clarendon College net in the 27th minute.
In first half added time, that lead was doubled as Henry Johnson capped off a brilliant counterattack.
With only 45 minutes left in their season, Clarendon College threw all they had but encountered the STETHS backline on each occasion.
However, the Lenwworth Hyde-coached team was given a lifeline when they Justin Hayles converted a 67th-minute penalty.
Just as they did in the first half, STETHS, in the 93rd minute of play, wrapped up proceedings as Jordon Blake managed to power home his left-footed shot from inside the box to give his team a well-deserved victory.
Omar Wedderburn, head coach of STETHS, said it was pleasing to end the title drought.
“It’s almost a decade since we last won anything and this could be a way to start off things. This is our seventh Ben Francis title, so we’re going to creep again before we walk. This is the creeping right now, we have great plans for next year and this will motivate our programme going forward,” said Wedderburn.
Lenworth Hyde, head coach of Clarendon College, explained that despite the defeat the players should use the game as experience for next season.
“We brought up some of our under-16 players to play in this competition to build for next season. We tried but the STETHS team were just quicker than us. We weren’t finishing the chances that we created but I saw some glimpses of what I wanted to see,” he said.
English (US) ·