Another Lennon, XLCR showdown

Lennon High School will go for their seventh Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) schoolgirl football title when they play Excelsior High in tomorrow's final at the Spanish Town Prison Oval.

Lennon beat Denham Town 4-2 on penalties - after a 1-1 draw with the Corporate Area school - in the semi-finals at the said venue on Tuesday.

Renae Gordon's late equaliser for Lennon sent the game into extra time. Denham Town took an early first-half lead through Tianna Wilson. However, the Clarendon school held their nerve to come away clear winners on penalty kicks.

"It's a very good feeling to reach the final," said winning coach Sherlon Lennon.

He noted that Denham Town played an impressive game before taking the lead, but thought his team's experience saw them through. "They (Denham Town) were organised and they possess the ball well, but we had the majority of the chances. We just didn't capitalise because we weren't settled," he said.

"Once we settled down, we played better and eventually got the equaliser. We pushed for the second goal and got the chances, but didn't get the goal," he continued.

He is now confident of winning their second straight title, and seventh in nine years.

RETAINING THE TITLE

"We played them last year. We beat Excelsior in the final. We are looking forward to playing some good football and retain the title," he stated.

In the other semi-final, Excelsior defeated St Jago 1-0 on Taramia Clarke's 70th-minute goal to set up a repeat of last year's final.

Excelsior's coach, Xavier Gilbert, who has reached the last eight finals with just one win to show, is looking to avenge their 3-0 defeat to Lennon last year.

"They (XLCR team) have exceeded my expectations, so I am happy to be in the final. We will approach the game similarly to how we did today (Tuesday). It was a keenly contested game, they had better possession, but we nullified their opportunities. But we went ahead from a set-piece and those are the things we strive on when we are in tight situations, and it worked for us," he said.