Charlemont, Petersfield have to wait for Ben Francis title

First-time finalists Charlemont and Petersfield High School will have to wait until next week Tuesday before either lifts their first schoolboy football title. This after rain interrupted play at the start of the second half of the ISSA/WATA Ben Francis Knockout Cup, with Charlemont leading 2-0 at the Juici Patties Park, yesterday.

Howard Barker and Deron Wildman were the goalscorers for Charlemont.

Dr Walton Small, president of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA), explained that the decision to play the remaining 45 minutes on Tuesday was made to avoid clashes with other competitions.

"I was really disappointed in the fact that the rain came because even though the scoreline was 2-0, the play was even. It's just that Petersfield didn't take their opportunities. As it stands right now, the most appropriate day will be next Tuesday considering the fact that we have the under-14 and -16 rural and urban semi-finals," said Small.

"We are going to be playing the remaining 45 minutes of the finals at the same venue starting at 3:00 p.m. Interestingly, we won't be charging, so we are asking people to come out and support them," he added.

Omar Baker, assistant coach of Petersfield, believes that rain was a blessing in disguise as they will now regroup and come back strong despite trailing by two goals.

"Today, it's the Father that was on our side for the rain to fall so we can regroup for a next 45 minutes. We will come back with hard running, quality football, and finishing our chances right through next week," said Baker.

"Firstly, we have to go back home and try to get the fighting spirit across to the players. We were playing according to the game plan, but just the fighting spirit wasn't there. We have to try to get the guys back up pumping with the urge for this (title)," he added.

Assistant Coach of Charlemont Michael Israel said with their comfortable lead, they are confident in their ability to manage the next 45 minutes to get a hold on their first schoolboy football title.

"We intend to come and finish off the job Tuesday," said Israel. "Our plan was to come and get it out of Petersfield's hands as early as possible, which we did with a now-comfortable 2-0 lead. We are comfortable against Petersfield and just want to come Tuesday and manage the game and get the job done," he added.