AFTER being forced into postponement in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the semi-final encounters of the 2012 Walker Cup took place on Friday at the Constant Spring Sporting Complex with Excelsior High squaring off against Jamaica College and Kingston College (KC) facing Wolmer’s Boys High.

At the close of the day, it was JC and Wolmer’s that booked their place in the finals scheduled for November 24.

The Jamaica College (JC) vs Excelsior match got the proceedings underway and though both teams delivered somewhat lacklustre performances, the patrons were at times treated to some delightful football.

In the end JC won 5-4 on penalties as neither team was able to convert chances created during normal or extra time, and while they will consider themselves deserved victors, there were certainly assisted by poor finishing from a number of Excelsior players.

The first half of the game went by without much fuss but in the second half and extra time Excelsior had far better scoring opportunities. The notable misses during normal time included a penalty miss in the dying seconds of the game and a miss from less than six yards out with an empty goal at the striker’s mercy.

Once the whistle was sounded sending the game towards penalty kicks, patrons around the park suspected that the writing was on the wall, as Excelsior had missed too many chances for their liking and so it was in the end as JC dispatched all their kicks.

For the evening’s second fixture, the tension around the Sporting Complex could be felt as early as the warm-ups, as Wolmer’s Boys fielded four players who previously paraded the purple and white of the North Street-based school. The game lived up to expectations as both teams attacked throughout the encounter.

Both goalkeepers were called into action during the first half of play, but the teams still entered the dressing room staring at the 0-0 scoreline.

In the second half Wolmer’s drew first blood as Jorginho James (one of the players who flew the coup) capitalised on a defensive lapse to pick out Kemario Osbourne who bundled home somewhat fortuitously.

Ten minutes later KC registered a goal of their own, as Shamala Ashman headed home a well-taken free kick.

In the penalty shoot-out, Wolmer’s scored all three attempts, while goalkeeper Amal Knight was on hand to deny three of four KC penalty takers to give his team a 3-1 edge.