Excelsior begin title defence with 25-goal opener
Published:Thursday | February 16, 2023 | 1:29 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Excelsior High School were heavy hitters on day one of action in the ISSA TIP Friendly Society School Girl Football season at the Stadium East Sports Complex yesterday.
In the day’s featured encounter, the second of a double header at Stadium East, Excelsior, aiming for their seventh straight title, opened their account with a 25-1 win over Bridgeport High School.
The goal fest began as early as the first minute of play, thanks to Tiny Seaton’s calm finish from inside the box.
The eventual hammering came, in part, from Cassandra Smith’s seven-goal performance. Smith netted in the third, 34th, 63rd, 70th, 74th, and 76th minutes of play. While Bridgeport’s consolation came courtesy of goalkeeper Schenell Goodhall’s 30th-minute own goal.
Stand-in coach of Excelsior, Everald Campbell, said despite being up by as much as 12-1 at the halftime interval, he wasn’t entirely pleased with what he saw.
“I didn’t love the halftime, but we went into the dressing room and talked about it. We weren’t moving the ball a lot and were just focused on scoring goals, and it was almost entirely about showboating. In the second half, we came out with better execution, and I was now pleased with that,” Campbell said. Regular coach Xavier Gilbert is away with the Reggae Girlz at the Cup of Nations.
Bridgeport coach, Patrin Wauchope, described being behind in training as one of the reasons for the poor display.
“It was a real hard game for my girls. We didn’t really complete all that we wanted to do, especially in transition plays. We were behind in our preparation as we had challenges in our training and started late,” said Wauchope.
In the day’s opening fixture between last season’s beaten finalists, Garvey Maceo and Central High School, there was also a one-sided affair.
Up against the young and inexperienced Central High, the Lester Hibbert-coached Garvey Maceo stomped their class over the fixture, dominating possession in a 12-1 win.
Garvey Maceo’s captain, Daihla Whyte, wasted little time, dismissing several Central High defenders to slot home the opening goal of the 2023 school girl season as early as the third minute.
Piling on the pressure, Garvey Maceo would see White enjoy a first-half hat-trick, scoring in the third, ninth, and 26th minutes of play. She was joined on the scoresheet by Jully-Ann Howard (17th, 28th) but was upstaged by Keiba Cowan, who had four in the 30th, 31st, 42nd, and 44th. Shanae Hunt (41st) and Liha Williams (56th, 58th) were also on the scoresheet.
Central High’s consolation goal came in the 59th minute through Trishelle Cassanova’s surprising strike from the half-line.
Despite the heavy defeat, Central High coach Adrian Reeves was not unhappy.
“My team is young, so to say where they went wrong isn’t where I would start because they played to the best of their ability. I have only two players who played the sport before, so for the team, it is really a learning experience,” said Reeves.
Garvey Maceo coach Lester Hibbert credited his group for the performance and believes they have the mentality to, again, challenge for a title this year.
“It was a good performance by the girls and all credit goes to them because they worked hard. We just have to get our mentality right, go to the training ground, and when we come into the fixtures, we execute so that we can have a unit that can go right through the competition,” said Hibbert.