1 year ago
42
Gregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
EIGHT-TIME DEFENDING champions Excelsior High left it late in their opening game of the ISSA Tip Friendly Society Schoolgirl Football (SGF) season, needing a brace from Yasheka Lewis in added time to edge Merl Grove High 2-1 in Zone F action.
It was the champions who started the better of the two teams as they had the lion’s share of opportunities throughout the match played at the Excelsior High school field.
Tashina Smith was inches wide of adding the game’s first at the half-hour mark when she let loose an effort from outside the box that whistled past the post.
Cassandra Smith came close as well three minutes later when she found space inside the box to fire a low effort that was dragged wide of the mark.
Not to be outdone, Merl Grove mounted their own chances with national youth representative Olivia Ashbourne spearheading their attack.
Ashbourne, with nifty footwork, was a constant nuisance for Excelsior’s defence and she left the reigning champions stunned after latching on to a ball over the top to open the scoring two minutes into the second half.
Excelsior would ramp up their attacking intent after falling behind but struggled to break down the Merl Grove defence, marshalled by captain Shanae Ashley.
The reigning champions would find the equaliser a minute into time added on when a scramble in the box saw the ball breaking free for Lewis to poke home from point-blank range.
Lewis would return for her double just before the full-time whistle, pouncing on a rare blunder from Merl Grove’s custodian Anastasia Green to bag the winner to the delight of the home crowd.
Early season jitters
Excelsior’s head coach Xavier Gilbert said his team’s scrambled performance was the result of early season jitters.
“At times we were rushing and chasing the game, especially after we went down and we made the game a bit more difficult. The players became frustrated and weren’t keeping their composure,” Gilbert said after the match.
“We’re going to get better as the season progresses as we are still missing four or five players. We’re going to get stronger but we just didn’t want to lose the first game. It’s early days, so there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Neo Oxford, the defeated coach on the afternoon, praised his team for their fight and said the performance was proof of the team’s progress as when they had faced Excelsior last year, they had lost 24-0.
“I think football won today. For the first time in the past six years, I’ve seen a team that came out here and really challenged Excelsior,” he said.
“We sent a message today. We fought hard, we had the one-nil lead and unfortunately we couldn’t keep it, but I think this is the start of great things to come.”
The result sees Excelsior sitting second in Zone F with three points, level with zone leaders Tivoli Gardens.
Tivoli have the advantage however through a greater goal difference as they defeated Meadowbrook 5-0 in the first match of the doubleheader.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Zone F
Meadowbrook 0-5 Tivoli Gardens
Excelsior 2-1 Merl Grove
English (US) ·