STGC cool Camperdown in Walker Cup

Photo: Matthew Wilson of St. Georges College battles with Ramiesh McKnight of Camperdown for possession of the ball in the quarter-finals of the Walker Cup. St.Georges College won the game 4-2

St. Georges College kept alive their hopes of claiming four schoolboy football titles in one season when they cooled the red hot Camperdown High in quarter final action in the ISSA/LIME Walker Cup on Saturday.
After a cagey opening which saw both teams feeling each other out, Camperdown seized control of the game, controlling the midfield play through the efforts of the captain Tevin Shaw. But the STGC team played disciplined football and waited on their chances to counter attack.

Almost out of nothing, the North Street based school took the lead when they recovered the ball in midfield through a swarming defence. The ball broke to Shevon Stewart who passed to Amoy Brown who lifted the ball over an advancing Odario Phillips to give STGC a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

Camperdown was still trying to come to grips with falling behind against the run of play, when they were 2-0 down just two minutes later. Another Camperdown giveaway let in Stewart who skillfully beat his marker before showing great composure in the box to fire into the far corner of the net from the left side, to leave Phillips reeling.

Camperdown had their first real effort on target in the 20th minute when Ramiesh McKnight had Cordel Irving diving to his left to pull off a one-handed save.

The East Kingston based school took control of the proceedings once again but the stubborn “Sky Blues” refused to be broken down. The slow pace of the attack by Camperdown posed very little problem s for the St. Georges defense while the quick incisive STGC counterattacks threatened to catch out Camperdown.

Two minutes before the break there was a major talking point when Kavon Wilson missed the ball completely and Brown ran on to it before being forced wide of goal by Phillips. The keeper grabbed the jersey of the STGC forward who refused to go down, to his credit, with the eventual shot going into the side netting.

On exactly 45 minutes Camperdown was back in the game when Kevin Clarke headed home from a free kick, after being left unmarked at the back post.

But the “Light Blues” were left smiling at the break as Stewart got the better of two defenders before firing home from inside the box to get his second of the game and restore his teams 2 goal advantage as STGC led 3-1 at half time.

A visibly upset Neville Bell, coach of STGC, was seen remonstrating with the referees right after the half time whistle, as he questioned why Phillips had not been sent off.

Camperdown came out in the second half like a house on fire, Akeem Bradford shooting just wide of the right upright in the 48th minute before they had a strong penalty appeal for a hand ball in the box was turned down two minutes later.

Barely a minute later Camperdown came close to cutting the deficit but a combination of the crossbar and a brilliant save from Irving kept the score at 3-1. STGC was riding their luck as the pressure from Camperdown intensified.
Another defensive lapse, this time from Phillips in the Camperdown goal, almost gifted STGC the insurance goal they were looking for. The custodian rolled the ball to Devon Donaldson, under pressure near the edge of the area and Brown stole the ball but his rushed effort went the wrong side of the post to spare the keeper’s blushes.

With Camperdown relentless and STGC doing everything they could to relieve the pressure, a defining moment in the game came when Camperdown second half substitute Prince McGilvery was red carded. The player seemingly talked his way into the book after Camperdown was denied a clear corner kick.

Down a man and two goals, Camperdown kept plugging away and earned a penalty after yet another hand ball appeal. McKnight stroked home the penalty in the 90th minute to make it 3-2 and give his team a flicker of hope. Any thoughts of a Camperdown fight back was squashed almost immediately as Gregory Messam won and scored a penalty for STGC in second half stoppage time, to make the score 4-2 and seal the win for St. Georges College.

“Individual mistakes cost us the game, they never really created the chances, we gave them the game. I thought we were good, the way we possessed the ball from the defensive third to the final third but we just never created enough chances to win the game. But they are youngsters, they are learning the game and they will make mistakes,” Camperdown coach, Christopher Bender said.

“We played tough today, we didn’t get to pass the ball the way we like, but we dug deep and won the game. We expected that they were going to come running and they did… but I thought we did well in the end,” winning coach Bertis Bell said.

St. Georges College will play Charlie Smith in the semi-finals on Wednesday.