Lannaman’s Prep beat ECA to take JISA football double
LANNAMAN’S Prep beat defending champions Emmanuel Christian Academy Prep (ECA) 2-0 in the final of the JISA Alberga Cup competition played at Sts Peter & Paul Preparatory School on Saturday.
Goals either side of the half-time whistle from Shaquan Small and Avon Stirlin gave Lannaman’s the win as they added the league title to the Henriques Cup knockout title they had won a week before.
The game was always expected to be keenly contested and so it was, as the champions fought gamely to defend their title against the most potent attack this season.
Lannaman’s broke the deadlock early when Small rose highest at the back post to head home beautifully a corner kick taken by Stirlin from the right side in the seventh minute, but they were unable to add to their lead as ECA fought valiantly in their third-consecutive title decider.
Stirlin ended the game as a contest, however, when he cut in from the left and fired home low into the corner of the goal eleven minutes into the second half.
It was the second title won by Lannaman’s in a week.
In the third-place play-off Dashuan Smith and Liam Delisser guided Mona Prep to a 2-0 win over Sts Peter & Paul.
Smith ended the prep school football season as the leading scorer with an amazing 55 goals.
Belair Prep were runners-up in the Henriques Cup while Mona Prep also finished third in that competition.
Haron Martin, who won the JISA double as a player at Lannaman’s Prep, was delighted to achieve the feat as a coach at his alma mater.
“We are very grateful and elated for this victory, however what you have seen here is a lot of hard work, it’s a lot of patience and a lot of sacrifice. We are very happy for the win.
“The final was not one of our better games but it was very simple: The objective was just to come out and win. We played a good enough game and we proved and showed that we are the better team,” he said.
Losing Coach Gregory Jones was gracious in defeat.
“We expected a tough game from Lannaman’s. The reality is that they have been the best prep school team this season — there was no two ways about that. We knew we had an uphill task…the best team won on the day.”
Thirty prep schools from right across the island participated in the competition which resumed in October after a two-year break due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
— Dwayne Richards