In one of the most thrilling finales, Debe Secondary fended off a late attacking surge from Vessigny Secondary to cop the BGTT/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) South Zone InterCol title with a 3-2 win, yesterday.
While national attacker Kayla Taylor was in fine form scoring a hat-trick, her efforts were almost overshadowed by Khadidra Debisette and Teneisha Cobham, who grabbed goals in the 78th and 80th minutes, respectively.
Taylor opened the scoring in the 13th minute, as Debe held a slender lead going into half time.However, she found her second on the hour mark, which seemingly put Debe in pole position for a straight forward win.
When Taylor scored in the 75th minute, just five minutes before the end of regulation time, the match seemed done and dusted.The runaway South Zone winner, which went through the season with eight wins in as many matches, had its nerves shattered when Debisette pulled one back with two minutes left.
This showed as the defence seeped another in, this time from the other in-form attacker, Cobham, who struck in added time.It, however, was too late as Debe persevered to grab yet another zonal InterCol title.
Over in Tobago, Bishop's High overcame a determined Scarborough Secondary to take the Tobago zone Intercol title at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet.Captain Kristen Julien led the way with a double strike to spur on the maroon and white-clad girls to a hard fought 3-2 win.
Bishop's pressured Scarborough from the onset and were rewarded when Julien found the back of the net twice within the space of 14 minutes.Julien, Krystal Taylor and Anya Akili combined to keep Scarborough's custodian Aaliyah Charles busy in the upright.
Cherise Roberts found the net for Scarborough, as the first half ended 2-1 in favour of Bishop's. On the resumption, Bishop's continued to attack, much to the delight of their lively band of supporters.
However, Scarborough showed great resilience as they rallied back with Roberts creating numerous chances.She was eventually rewarded with her second and the team's equaliser in the 60th.
With momentum on their side, Scarborough looked determined to seal the victory. However, against the run of play, Bishop's April Ewing got the match winner with a long-range shot, lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper's reach.
Goalkeeper Charles then switched to striker as Scarborough pushed up their players to attack in search of another goal but fell just short. Bishop's now takes over the reign from last year's winner, Roxborough Secondary.
In the North/East division, both semifinals were played with St Francois sealing a spot in the zonal final for the third consecutive year, while St Augustine fended off a plucky Providence Girls to take a win on penalties.
St Francois dropped San Juan North 2-0 via a double from Samantha Kingston (42nd and 45th).Naomee Guerra scored the equaliser for St Augustine which was down 1-0 within three minutes through a goal from Providence standout Chelcy Ralph.
