Wolmer’s snatch it!
WOLMER’S Boys won the ISSA/Flow Walker Cup defeating St George’s College 5-4 on penalty kicks at the Stadium East field yesterday.
Both teams had battled to a 0-0 draw in normal time before ending 1-1 in the 20 minutes of extra time before the dreaded penalty kicks.
Alphanso Gooden came off the bench and gave Wolmer’s Boys the lead three minutes into extra time before Dominic James pulled George’s level in the 99th minute from the penalty spot.
Rojay Smith, Kashaun Smith, Alphanso Gooden, goalkeeper Shamer Jermison and Jameli Hall all converted for Wolmer’s, while Kobe Stiebel missed the fifth kick.
Akeem Prawl, Alex Marshall, Ronaldo Watson and Paul Young Jnr were the scorers for St George’s College as Dominic James and Jevaun McKellar missed.
St George’s kicked first and Prawl, Marshall and Watson all scored before regular penalty taker, James missed the fourth spot kick.
Rojay Smith, Kashaun Smith Gooden, goalkeeper Shamer Jermison set the stage for substitute Stiebel to win the game for Wolmer’s, but he missed and gave St George’s a lifeline. Paul Young then scored for St George’s. but when McKellar missed, Jameli Hall sealed the win for Wolmer’s.
It was Wolmer’s fifth lien on the Walker Cup and their third in the last four years following triumphs in 1971, 1976, 2013 and 2014.
The Heroes Circle School is fourth on the all-time Walker Cup list behind St George’s College with nine titles, Kingston College on eight and Excelsior with seven titles.
It was the second Cup loss for the Neville Bell-coached St George’s in the space of five days after looking likely to capture four titles this season after winning the Super Cup a few weeks ago.
The ‘Light Blues’ lost -01 to Jamaica College in the Manning Cup final on Saturday and didn’t seem fully recovered to retain their title, but they fought gallantly.
Wolmer’s, in the end, were deserved champions and at the final whistle head coach Vassell Reynolds slumped to the ground in celebration. His eyes filled with tears of joy.
“I am very elated for the team. It was a tough one and we knew the long layoff would have affected us. They were sharper than us and I just asked the guys to stay in there. We were always prepared mentally for the penalty shootout and we were confident that the ‘keeper would have kept us in the game and he did just that,” said Reynolds.
After watching his fancied team lose for the second time in five days, head coach Neville Bell was nonetheless full of praise for his team.
“We didn’t win on Saturday and we were disappointed about that one and we lost again and of course we are very disappointed. But we thank God that we made it to three finals,” said Bell.