Annai Secondary successfully retained their Region #9 title overcoming hosts St. Ignatius 3-2 on penalty kicks when the Digicel Schools Football championships continued at the St. Ignatius Sports Club ground yesterday.
The matchup was pushed into the penalty shootout realm after normal time ended 1-1 in front of a packed venue.
Asked to shoot first, the hosts started brightly as Chadwick Chavez netted into the top left corner.
Annai then fell behind the eight ball as captain Sheral Daniels missed from the mark, rifling his shot onto the crossbar after opting for power instead of placement, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
Presented with a chance to double their advantage, St. Ignatius handed their foes a lifeline as David Coates lashed his effort straight at the custodian.
Annai duly capitalised on their good fortune with Nairon Williams scoring into the lower left corner. The score quickly became 2-2 in the third round as Elijah Simon scored for the hosts and Orvil Daniels netted for the visitors.
The momentum changed sides in the fourth round as Annai were handed an opportunity to take the lead following a miss from Wayne DaSilva. The forward directed his effort directly at the stationary custodian.
Unlike their foes in the second round, Annai made the most of the opportunity as Clayton Bartholomew converted into the right side to give his team the lead at 3-2 heading into the final round.
Needing a conversion to stay alive in the contest, St. Ignatius sealed their own downfall as Moses Phillips directed his right foot shot high over the crossbar.
With the win, Annai claimed their third consecutive title receiving medals, new uniforms and a trophy for their efforts. Losing finalists, St. Ignatius walked away with a trophy and medals.
While the home crowd easily outnumbered the visiting contingent, the latter erased the deficit vocally, to the point where it seemed like the match was being hosted in the Annai Community.
The home support was mostly heard when St. Ignatius ventured into their foe’s final third and when a Annai offensive threat was thwarted.
But for all their possession, Annai locked penetration and were guilty of wasting the opportunities that were created in the final third.
The home unit snatched the lead in the fifth minute when Coates scored, stabbing the ball past the advancing goalkeeper into the lower right corner after racing down the centre of the field into the area.
Orvil Daniels almost equalised three minutes later, running onto a through pass inside the centre of the box before firing his effort just over the crossbar while being challenged by a defender.
The goalkeeper then denied Sheral Daniels in the 26th minute, parrying a left side free kick to safety after it took a deflection off the leg of a defender within the area.
It would be until the 65th minute that the visitors fashioned another noteworthy chance, Sheral Daniels unleashing a thunderous 30-yard strike in the centre of the field which was tipped onto the crossbar by the diving custodian to his right, bouncing just inside the line for the custodian to make a desperate grab to deny an onrushing forward.
On the other end, the defensive minded hosts crafted their second chance of the fixture through Orlando Francis. During a solo run on the left side in the 69th minute, Francis saw his right foot strike denied by the leg of the custodian.
The resulting rebound was also denied by the defender who headed it to safety. Coates almost doubled the hosts lead in the 75th minute, lashing a strike 30 yards from the target on left side which crashed into the crossbar, leaving the custodian rooted to the spot.
Annai eventually grabbed the equaliser in the 80th minute to send the fixture into its eventual conclusion as Williams slotted home under the advancing goalkeeper from the left side of the box, after latching onto a lobbed pass from the centre of the field.
Meeting the team prior to the start was Lethem Mayor Carlton Beckles and Digicel Representative Natasha Taitt. The championships, which will be played in the traditional knockout format, will be staged in every region and will end on July 31st at the National Stadium in Providence.
Christianburg/Wismar Secondary has held a stranglehold on the event as they are current four-time defending champions. The other victor of the most prestigious event in the country was Georgetown Technical Institute who won the inaugural event.
The winning team is set to receive $1,000,000 toward the funding off a school project and the Championship trophy while the second place unit will receive $700,000 and the runners-up accolade.
The third and fourth placed unit will walk away $400,000 and $350,000 and the corresponding trophy. Similarly, $100,000 will be awarded to achieve zone winner.
