KC ends Wolmers Walker Cup reign in dramatic penalty shootout

Photo:Nathan Thomas of Kingston College (left) battles with Ramone Lewis of Wolmers’ Boys for possession of the ball in midfield. Kingston College defeated the defending champions Wolmers 4-3 in a sudden death penalty shootout. 

Kingston College ended Wolmers’ Boys three year Walker Cup reign when they eclipsed the champions 4-3 in a dramatic sudden deathy penalty shootout at the Constant Spring Field on Friday, after both teams had played out a scintillating 2-2 draw after full and extra time. The game lived up to all the pre-game hype in front of a full house of expectant fans and the performance of Jahvanni Grant in the penalty shootout made him an instant hero at his school.

This match was the feature game of a double header, with the earlier game going the way of Bridgeport High who blanked Denham Town 2-0 to advance to the semi-final.

Kingston College began the game against the champions on the front foot, bossing possession and moving the ball around the park in classic fashion. Wolmers’ were reduced to chasing shadows as the Boys from North Street moved the ball with speed a precision.

But despite their dominance, KC went behind when an unusual mistake from their captain Javain Brown led to the opener. In trying to play the ball clear, Brown only succeeded in picking out the Wolmers’ talisman Alphanso Gooden who did not need a second invitation. The tall striker cleared his feet before burying the ball in the corner of the goal beyond the despairing dive of Grant.

Rashwan Mackison should have levelled things right after but he shot straight at the Wolmers’ keeper Shemar Jemison from point blank range. The Wolmers’ lead lasted just seven minutes however, as the KC talisman made up for his earlier error, firing home from inside the box and pulling the famed ‘Purples’ level in the 21^st minute.

KC took control of the game once more as Wolmers rued making their advantage slip so soon. But despite their territorial advantage the Ludlow Bernard coached boys could not find the go ahead goal in the first stanza.

Heading ‘down the slope’ in the second half, KC were once again on the front foot and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 62^nd minute. Omar Thompson picked up a ball on the left flank and cut inside passed two defenders before firing a shot to goal that took a double deflection before finding its way into the back of the net.

With the game slipping away, Wolmers’ coach Vassel Reynolds rang the changes and it led to the Heroes Circle based team clawing their way back into the contest. But it was another KC error that let them back into the game when Grant failed to hold a regulation cross into the box. The ball fell kindly to Rivaldo English who poked home from close range to make it 2-2 in the 80th minute.

The final ten minutes of regulation time and the 20 minutes of extra time produced no more goals, which brought on the dreaded penalty kicks. Wolmers’ keeper Jemison is an experienced campaigner in penalty shootouts and when he saved the first two shots from Mackison and Fabian Grant while his teammates English and Gooden had obliged from the spot, Wolmers’ seemed home and dry yet again.

But there was to be a dramatic swing in momentum that let KC back in the contest. Omar Thompson stroked home confidently to finally put KC on the board at 2-1 and then goalkeeper Grant did what he had to do – produce a save for KC. Young Trayvonne Reid who came on as a second half substitute then scored to make it 2-2 and put the pressure back on Wolmers’. Another substitute, Yannick Elliott, saw his penalty saved by Grant and things were back level with one penalty a piece remaining.

Andre McCatty and Andrew Daley both found the back of the net to leave the scores tied at 3-3 and send it into sudden death. With the pressure mounting on both teams, wing back Denilson Simpson buried his shot from 12 yards for KC to put to put his team ahead for the first time and the pressure back on Wolmers’.

The next kicker for Wolmers’ would have to score and it was Jemison who took the responsibility. He shot and Grant guessed correctly to pull off his third save of the shoot out as KC advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday against Bridgeport High.

“We were a little disappointed that we didn’t close out the game from early seeing that we were really bossing it. I think we allowed the Wolmers’ team to come back in it,” Ludlow Bernard said of the full time period.

“We were practicing penalties all week…I needed the first save from him (Grant). He got the first one and that would have boosted his confidence. When I saw Jemison go up I said to myself, why is Jemison going to take penalties when Jahvanni should know everything about him, seeing that they were at Wolmers previously and right there and then I was very assured that we would have copped it,” said a smiling Bernard.

“Just before we scored they had control of the game but when we scored we let them back in the game. We should have controlled the game from there but when they went 2-1 up I thought we showed real character and we pulled it back to 2-2 and I thought it could have gone either way. We lost in the penalty shootout, but as usual that is a lottery really,” said Reynolds.

In the day’s first game between Bridgeport High and Denham Town High, goals in either half from Javoughn Dunn and Shane Moodie was enough to seal the contest for the former Manning Cup champions.

Dunn scored with a well-placed header from a long free kick from his captain Kyle Ming five minutes before half time, before Moodie broke the Denham Town hearts with a lofted effort from the edge of the box in the 90^th minute.

Bridgeport will square off with KC in the semi-final at the same venue on Tuesday.