SUNDAY NIGHT’S DAVID THOMPSON MEMORIAL Constituency Councils Football Classic finals was exactly that. A classic.
Two goals in the final five minutes capped off an entertaining and enthralling contest between Christ Church East Central and St Michael South East, which Christ Church eventually won 2-1 before a packed Kensington Oval.
However, despite a jittery 10-minute spell, during which the eventual winners conceded two penalties in the space of four minutes, head coach Michael Morris always believed that his team would come out victorious.
Speaking to NATION SPORT shortly after they became just the second team to win the tournament, Morris said that at no time did he think his troops would crumble under the pressure.
“I always thought we would win. Coming into the match I knew we had the striking power and the better all-round quality team to win the game and that’s the truth,” the elated coach explained.
“Even after the two penalties I still had faith. To me the first appeal was definitely a penalty, but I didn’t agree with the second one that was awarded.
“But that is gone now. We were able to get past it, and it feels really good to come here tonight and win the competition,” Morris added.
He revealed that among their celebration plans, the team would be having a motorcade on Saturday, as well as a prize-giving ceremony on a date to be announced.
Winning captain Ricardio Morris admitted that he was a bit nervous after Mario Harte converted the second penalty in the 85th minute to lock the score at 1-1.
“You know you will always have nerves coming into a game like this, but you have to find a way to overcome them.
“To concede two late penalties after leading for the whole game obviously added to that anxiety, but in the end we were able to calm our nerves and come away with the win,” the tournament’s Best Defender said.
St Michael South East’s first-time coach, Christopher King could not hide his disappointment.
He cited captain Teriq Highland’s saved penalty as the turning point of the game.
“Some games you win, some games you lose. You can’t win them all. We tried our best and in the end, we came up just short.
“That missed penalty was very crucial, and I am still stumped about it,” King maintained.
“I just can’t describe it. It was just some really hard luck.”
Despite the loss, King still took some positives away from the experience.
“I thank God that I was able to get this far. It’s my first time coaching the team, so I still take it as a plus because we did better than the first two years.”
