UNDER-14 TEAM

The 'Pres' Under- 14 football team had a very successful 1988/1989 season. In the Giants League Division, they defeated Marabella Junior Secondary 5-0, A.S.J.A. 6-0, San Fernando East Junior Secondary 4-1, drew 1-1 with St. Benedict's College and whipped rivals Naparima College 10-0. The team emerged joint leaders with the same goal-difference as St. Benedict's College. In the replay to decide the division winner, our team was unlucky to lose 3-1 and hence end up as the League runners up.

In the knockout tournament, they recorded comfortable wins over San Fernando East Junior Secondary (3-0), Williamsville Junior Secondary (3-1; quarterfinals) and St. Benedict's College (1-0; semifinals). In the finals, 'Pres' mauled Vessigny Government Secondary 5-0 to win the tournament.

Congratulations to our boys for such outstanding performances. Hail Presentation Under-14 team, worthy champions of South!

CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Mter the phenomenal successes of the past two seasons in which Presentation College emerged as the 1986 Big Seven champions and placed third the following year finished as 1986 National Intercol runners-up and 1987 South Zone Intercol runners-up, copped the College Team of the Year trophy in 1986, won the 1987 Kay trophy as well as back-to-back South Zone League titles, this year's performance was modest although 'Pres' remained as one of the best teams in the League.

'Pres' started with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over arch-rivals, St. Benedict's. A string of inconsistent performances followed as the team lost and won alternatively to Moruga (0-1), Point Fortin (2-0) and Siparia (0-2). A 2-0 win against Fyzabad signalled a reversal of fortunes. The revival continued with a 2-1 victory over Pleasantville and 'Pres' ended the first round impressively by whipping rivals Naparima 4-0 at Union Hall. Retaining the League title seemed certain, or so we thought.

Then, in one fell swoop, our hopes of recording a hattrick of liens on the South Zone League title were left in tatters. Protests by other teams in the zone resulted in the deduction of the points and goals from our victories over St. Benedict's and Point Fortin for fielding an overaged and unregistered player in the respective matches. When the dust had settled, 'Pres' was now a distant third place, six points behind leaders St. Benedict's and with an inferior goal difference. The team now needed tall-scoring victories in each second round match and had to hope that the La Romain boys slipped up along the way.

'Pres' started the second round with a 2-0 win over Fyzabad and a close 1-0 decision over Moruga. The six-point gap was halved when our team regained the points and goals from the first-round Point Fortin game since the player in question had in fact been registered and was a bonafide student. Siparia was the next victim, crushed 5-0. The points gap was cut to one as they mauled Pleasantville 7-0 while St. Benedict's struggled to a 1-1 stalemate with Fyzabad. The team then maintained the pressure with a hard fought 3-1 win over Point Fortin. So 'Pres' remained a point behind St. Benedict's as the intercol competition began.

Our team made light work of quarter-final opponents Siparia, hitting them for a massive six. This set up a Semi-final meeting with Point Fortin, one of the most competitive teams in the zone.

The match was an Intercol classic. After dominating the first half, the "Beast from the Deep" shot themselves into the lead with a surprise goal in the 46th minute. At this point an incredible upset seemed likely but this was averted by the resilience of the team, inspired by another virtuoso Sherwood performance. 'Quicksilver' netted the equalizer and his pin-point accurate free-kick found the unmarked Jones for the extra-time winner. Now our "extra-massives" clashed with St. Benedict's in the final.

It was a fiercely contested match. 'Pres' took a 1-0 lead in the 35^th minute via Sherwood but St. Benedict's equalized in the 49^th. At fall-time, the score was still deadlocked at 1-1. Despite further near misses in extra-time, St. Benedict's hung on to force the match into penalty kicks.

After three penalties each, 'Pres' led 3-2 in the shootout and victory seemed certain. Lady Luck then deserted our valiant team as we missed our last two penalties allowing our opponents to equalize at 3-3 and have the opportunity of winning the game. With tensions at a screaming pitch, Mitchell had to save the final penalty to force the match into sudden death. He could not, and St. Benedict's retained their title. Presentation finished runners up for the second consecutive year.

National Intercol finals, Signal Hill retained their title, humbling St. Benedict's 2-0. The Tobago team seemed on course for a repeat of last year's double and 'Pres' remained one of the few real threats to their "double-double" ambitions. Our team now focused their on the League.

their penultimate match, the "extra-massives" destroyed Naparima 5-0. This put 'Pres' ahead of the standings by two points, having played a game more than St. Benedict's. The team's final match was against the same St. Benedict's on their home ground. A win for 'Pres' would see us retaining the title, a draw would mean that St. Benedict's would have to win their final match and a loss would hand the title to them.

Knowing that victory was essential to ensure the title, 'Pres' went all out from the start. They played brilliant, clean attacking football as all eleven of our opponents threw themselves into defence. Despite comprehensively outplaying our opponents, the match ended in a 1-1 deadlock. Presentation finished as the South Zone League runners-up. Signal Hill duly retained their "Big Four" title to record a unique "double-double". Signal Hill seemed to be the best team of the year, but, then again, they escaped any confrontation with 'Pres'.

This brought the 1988/1989 College Football season to a close. It was a season of brilliant and resilient play, notably by Anthony Sherwood (20 goals in 17 matches), Marlon Morris, Romano Paul, Lyle Andre, the Cowan brothers, Van and Rodney, and goalkeeper Gregory Mitchell. Next year, with more hard work and dedication, we look forward to greater achievements and may well see Presentation College San Fernando emerge as the undisputed giant in College's Football.

Next year...

The gymnastics troupe consists mainly of students of the College. There are a few past students who return annually to assist in the preparation of the troupe for the Sports Day display. This year, however, there was a slight change. On Saturday mornings during the first term, we trained with the help of a few dedicated parents who willingly gave of their time to help the troupe prepare for the display.

We had a large number of first form students during these training sessions, but due to their irregular attendances and also the level of skill each possessed, they progressed at different rates. The seniors as usual, gave a good account of themselves. This of course is not to take anything away from the juniors who performed creditably. The crowd was indeed appreciative of our efforts and we were grateful for their support.

We encounter the same problem every year. After Form Three, the gymnasts seem to lose interest and turn to other activities. This becomes a problem because when the older students leave school after writing exams there are very few, if any, students left to continue this activity. This is one of the reasons for the present leaders asking the past students to return.

Special thanks must be given to the parents who were involved with the training sessions as well as to Br. Michael and Mr. Radhay for their continued support in our endeavours to maintain the high standards for which we are renowned. We pray for their continued assistance in the future.