San Juan, ‘Pres’ clash for Intercol title

In the Shell/First Citizens Girls Intercol Final, St Augustine Secondary of the East will tackle southerners Fyzabad Secondary from 1.30 pm.

Following the Girls final, Presentation College San Fernando will square up against San Juan North from 3.30 pm in the Coca Cola boys final.

Speaking ahead of today’s final, San Juan North coach Jerry Moe and Presentation coach Sean Cooper both gave their thoughts on the match. Moe said his team is upbeat ahead of the clash, saying, “We feeling well, we are in good spirits right now. We have worked hard for where we are, nobody give us any favours, because of that we feeling good and we feeling quite confident in terms of how we prepare going into the game tomorrow (today).” Cooper said his message to his players is to enjoy the experience as opportunities like these are special. Cooper said, “(I will tell them) just concentrate on their game, enjoy the moment because it does not come often. For some of them, this will be their first and last time to play in a National Intercol final so they have to enjoy the moment.” Both coaches know what happened earlier in the season is no indication of how today’s match will unfold. Presentation were title contenders for the entire Premier League competition earlier this season, while San Juan languished in the bottom half of the table for most of the season.

When the teams met in the Premier League, Presentation edged San Juan North 1-0.

Moe said San Juan North are contented to play the underdog role. “We quite happy to be the underdog, we think ‘Pres’ is a good team but we are not going to have any fear for them but we are going to have respect for them. I think it is going to be a good game.” Cooper said Presentation’s success earlier in the season has nothing to do with today. “That was in the league and that was a couple months ago so we are going into the game not dwelling on the past but the present. Tomorrow (today) have nothing to do with when we played them a couple months ago. We will be very much aware of complacency, the staff.” San Juan North, playing with 10 men for more than 50 minutes, defeated Trinity College (Moka) in the semifinals 4-1 thanks to a beaver-trick from Renaldo Boyce.

Cooper said his team will be concentrating on their game rather than focusing on Boyce.

“We have a plan for our game, we will be concentrating on our game. What they bring to the table we will deal with it but we are more concerned about perfecting our patterns of play.

Sometimes when you look at players you tend to try to change your system, the way how you play, and then you foul up your whole preparation.” Moe said the scoreline will determine his team’s strategy rather than the play of Boyce. “We always have a Plan A and a Plan B but whatever plan they have, we have our game plan that is not going to be determined based on what they do. The score in the game determines our approach to the game. Whether they come with a plan for Boyce or not I think we are going to put in the work and hopefully that will be enough to get us through on the day.”