Team captain Taye-Ann Wylie scored a quick-fire first-half brace to lead Pleasantville Secondary School to a hard-fought 3-0 win over Five Rivers Secondary in the Secondary Schools Football League National Girls ‘Big-Five’ final at the Ato Boldon Stadium, in Balmain, Couva, Tuesday.
Pleasantville Secondary, coming off a 17-0 win over Moruga Secondary in the South Zone Inter-Col Girls final on Friday at the same venue, started the brighter of both teams and went ahead as early as the 17th minute when a right-sided corner from Wylie was completely misjudged by Five Rivers goalkeeper Kertisha Joseph to hand her opponents the lead.
A minute later, Joseph was at fault again when her attempted kick up field only reached as far as Wylie, who took three touches before she unleashed a 30-yard right-footed attempt which looped over Joseph and into the back of the next for a comfortable 2-0 advantage which they carried into the half-time interval.
Five minutes into the second half of the 80-minute final, Five Rivers created their best chance, with Hackeema Goodridge failing to connect with a right-sided centre from Jada Herbert just inside the six-yard box.
The prolific Nikita Gosine, the scorer of eight goals in their South Zone Inter-Col finals win to carry her tally to 30 on the season almost made it 3-0 in the 70th minute, however, after going on a solo run, her right-footed effort cannoned off the top left-hand corner of the crossbar.
However, a minute later Gosine would finally get her name on the scoresheet when she gathered a loose ball just outside the top left-hand corner of the 18-yard box and drilled a right-footed effort that proved too hot for Joseph to handle in the Five Rivers goal.
And in the 75th minute, Gosine almost added her second on the night and the team’s fourth from another long-range effort which crashed against the cross-bar over the outstretched hands of Joseph, with substitute Daniella Wickham headed the rebound straight at the lucky goalkeeper.
In the end, the Brian London-coached Pleasantville Secondary wrapped up a comfortable win to become the new champions and make amends for their semifinal defeat last season to eventual winners Scarborough Secondary, while they also stayed on course to secure a fourth title with the National Girls Coca-Cola Intercol semifinal to come against Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School on Sunday (December 1).
Today, Signal Hill Secondary will host St Joseph’s Convent Port-of-Spain in the lone Girls Coca-Cola quarterfinal at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago with the winner to face San Juan North Secondary in the other semifinal on Sunday as well.
