Papine, St Andrew for U-19 hockey final

DEFENDING champions Papine High and St Andrew sneaked into the final of the ISSA/JHF Under-19 School League after posting semi-final victories at Mona on Friday.

Papine scored an unimpressive 1-0 over Alpha Academy, while St Andrew held their nerves to beat Excelsior 3-2 on penalties.

Chakira Airey scored in the 48th minute for her third goal of the season for Papine to defend their title. Goalkeeper Kadeja Gordon miskicked Airey's ground shot for long-time semi-finalists Alpha to fail to reach the final for another year.

Papine's coach Andrea Hoo said afterwards: "It was a poor performance... We're having some challenges at school... some of the girls are now at the CXC level which they prefer to commit their time to schoolwork rather than at training.

"It's kind of hard as half of the team are Under-14 players... so they don't gel as much as they should...

"Coming into this competition we shouldn't be fighting so hard to score a one goal. We have given up so many short corners as well as we've gotten numerous amount.

"We are happy for the win, 1-0 is good for me and we're in the final," she explained.

Alpha's Kirk King was gracious in defeat: "Papine had a better team... Our game plan didn't work out and it came to the last two minutes before they scored."

St Andrew's Stephanie Channer got two glorious opportunities, but the Excelsior defence stood up.

Unlike most schoolgirl matches, the players in this semi-final were generally fit, ran for the entire match, and fought until the end.

St Andrew coach Dr Michelle Holt summed up the match: "The game was tough, hard-fought, nail-biting. Neither defence was giving anything away. This a game where the fewest shots were ever taken because defence was tight.

"There were players who showed good skill and good initiative. Excelsior's entire defence line played a tough, hard game. There were tight marking and they weren't taking any prisoners.

"My forwards held back a little too long, but in the last 10 minutes they finally followed instructions," said Dr Holt.

Excelsior coach Carol Hibbert noted: "The game was an excellent game. I'm really proud of my players. When a game goes down to penalties, it can be anybody's game. St Andrew were worthy opponents and I can positively say that the future of hockey looks bright," she said.

Kimberly Shaw, Kamillle Griffiths, and Abigail Lumsden scored their penalties for St Andrew, while Natalee Simpson and Amika Livingston converted for Excelsior .

The Schoolgirl Under-19 final will take place on Wednesday at 3:00 pm at Mona.

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