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Feeding frenzy at Catherine Hall as crocodile is hunted

crocodile

Photo: Omar “Rambo” Wedderburn coach of St.Elizabeth Technical High School doing his now famous match pose

Most human beings need something to define them, something to which they can associate themselves, that they call their own. At the Beijing Olympics, the world’s greatest sprinter, Usain Bolt instinctively came up with his now famous “to the world” pose. It became such a hit globally that his sponsors PUMA, developed strap-on hands that mimicked the pose for people to wear, especially at track and field meets where the legend performs.

In local high school football, St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) football head coach, Omar “Rambo” Wedderburn has defined himself with his quotes. During last year’s schoolboy football season, his quote was “common horse can’t win derby”, which he repeated after his team won the 2014 DaCosta Cup title.

This season, he used the crocodile to define his team and his methods. Slow and deadly. Wedderburn also has a signature pose at matches, down on one knee during the entire game, as he watches his troops out there on the battlefield.

Before the final of the DaCosta Cup to be played between STETHS and Clarendon College, veteran coach Jackie Walters declared that he would be seeking his “crocodile licence” as he planned to hunt down the “crocodile man”.

On Saturday November 29th, 2014 there was a bloodbath at the Catherine Hall Sports Complex as the wily veteran and his troops ripped the crocodile man and his boys to threads. In a savage midfield display, Clarendon College (CC) completely overran a STETHS team whose only previous loss this season had been to Jamaica College (JC) in the LIME Super Cup.

A fantastic 40 yard strike from Xhane Reid in the 20th minute, was just reward for the dominance that CC had shown up to that point and a (goal worthy of a final) great goal to grace a final. That brilliant strike stunned the “crocodile” and the instincts of the hunter kicked in as they went in for the kill and struck a near fatal blow just seven minutes later.

Reid got his brace for CC when he capitalized on a defensive error to poke home and send his team 2-0 up. The horns, shouts and screams of the CC fans were deafening by this time as they started to dream of the end to their long, long wait for a championship.

Having not seen their school lift a title since 1998, most of the younger fans of Clarendon College had no idea what it meant to be DaCosta Cup champions and may have tempered their excitement with the reality that it was still only the first half and that they were indeed up against the defending champions.

But the experience of Walters would tell as his troops came off the field two goals ahead at half time.

While the second half performance wasn’t as dominant as the first, CC controlled the tempo of the game very well and they played STETHS out of the game, before ending the misery of the “half dead lizard” when Knight dusted himself off to score a penalty he had earned in the 77th minute.

The final whistle brought an end to a 16 year drought and cued huge celebrations that no doubt went on late into the night.

STETHS has never repeated as DaCosta Cup champions, despite having won the Ben Francis Knock Out trophy for the last five years. This fact will not be lost on them and they must be wondering what it is that they can do to break this hoodoo.

Coach Jackie Walters has proven his class one again, as the trophy returned to CC since the last time he took it there.

While “animal activists” may not be pleased with the “slaying of the crocodile”, there isn’t a man, woman or child in the parish of Clarendon complaining about the “death” of that particular lizard. Any neutral watching the game, will surely not begrudge Clarendon College of a truly fantastic win.

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