Siparia Boys RC captured the inaugural Scotiabank CONCACAF NextPlay Cup with a resilient effort in the final against St Dominic’s RC of Penal at the TTFA Home of Football Training Field, Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on Saturday.
It took a 3-2 victory on penalties after both teams battled to a 2-2 draw in regulation time of the 7 vs 7 match programme.
The win earned them the NextPlay Cup and medals, as well as an all-expense- paid trip to the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final at Soldier Field in Chicago, the United States on July 7th.
Captain Vaughn Clement guided his team to the win with two goals during regulation, and then he converted his penalty along with team-mates Akil Neverson and Elijah La Fleur. St Dominic’s got their goals in regulation from Derrel Garcia (2) while Adam Pierre and Garcia converted their kicks.
Siparia secured their place in the final by way of a 2-1 victory over Maloney Government, while St Dominic’s progressed via a 1-0 win over St Agnes AC in the semifinal.
Siparia then demonstrated good fight and character to pull off the win after losing the final to St Dominic’s in the National Primary Schools League St Patrick’s district final, also on penalties earlier this year.
Sixteen Primary Schools advanced to the NextPlay Cup Final Saturday after three days of competitions that saw 46 Primary Schools kick off the competition just over a week ago.
Siparia captain Vaughn Clement was ecstatic with the victory and said, “This was a great experience for all of us. I would like to thank CONCACAF, Scotiabank and the TTFA for helping put this tournament together and giving us an opportunity to play so many games. It was a really enjoyable tournament and a learning experience for all of us. We are very happy, and hopefully, this win will make all of our friends, teachers and everyone at Siparia proud.”
Clement added, “This is a wonderful prize. We are all very excited and overjoyed with it. It will be great to see such a match with the top teams in CONCACAF."
Attending the Final was CONCACAF Development Manager for the Caribbean Andre Waugh who thanked the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, the TTFA and partners Scotiabank for the commitment and efforts throughout the competition.
Other officials present were TTFA General Secretary Justin Latapy-George, Technical Director Anton Corneal and representatives from the Ministry of Education, Mignon King and Patrice Charles, Director of Physical Education and Sport.