

St Anthony’s Kai Phillip rose off the bench to make the difference between his side and East Mucurapo Secondary School in the Coca-Cola North Zone Intercol finals at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Friday.
St Anthony’s would go ahead in the 33rd minute of play thanks to Kyron Manswell before East Mucurapo hit back through the effort of substitute Malachi Celestene in the 66th. The eventual winners would again take the lead, with their goal also coming from the substitute’s bench in the form of Phillip, whose 81st-minute effort proved decisive.
East Mucurapo started out the more aggressive team, winning the majority of midfield battles but thet weren’t very penetrative. When Manswell passed the ball into the goal after Zion Williams’ brilliant dribble down the left side and eventual cross found him unmarked, East Mucurapo knew they had more work to do.
The eventual runners up would have to wait for the second half to find more incisive play and got it through the inventive runs of Celestine. One such mazy effort would leave him unmarked as he ran on to through ball from Zion McLeod, rounded goalkeeper Josiah Perez and slotted into an empty net.
St Anthony’s came under some pressure after that but their midfield and backline stood firm and after an interception came to Jean-Heim McFee, a beautiful pass through the middle of the field left East Mucurapo struggling.
That pass landed at the feet of Phillip, who dribbled by his defender, checked as he caught up and cut inside of him before dinking the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper, Jamale Blackman.
The win means St Anthony’s will now face Tobago champions, Speyside in the quarterfinal of the National Intercol on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Paul-Andre is the Managing Editor at SportsMax.tv. He comes to the role with almost 20 years of experience as journalist. That experience includes all facets of media. He began as a sports Journalist in 2001, quickly moving into radio, where he was an editor before becoming a news editor and then an entertainment editor with one of the biggest media houses in the Caribbean.