NAPS WIN INTERCOL FOR FIRST TIME IN 22 YEARS

NAPARIMA College snatched Intercol glory for the first time in 22 years and were celebrating well into last night after their 1-0 victory over Princes Town Senior Comprehensive.The all-South final of the Royal Bank sponsored tournament was contested yesterday at Skinner Park, San Fernando.

Midfielder Leon Brown was a proud captain when he lifted the Royal Bank Trophy presented by Minister of Education Kamla Persad-Bissessar after Atiba McKnight's header trickled over the line for the winner in the 78th minute.Their last success in the Intercol was in 1977.

It was a victory which was dredged from persistence rather than delivered with quality.Princes Town, the 1994 champions were denied for the second consecutive year after losing to St Benedict's College 3-1 at the same venue last year.Before a large crowd, Naps looked the sharper of the two sides in the opening stages and had the ball in the back of the net inside the firstminute but referee Jagdesh Bhimull blew for a foul against Jason Hector.

P/Town missed the killer instinct of suspended striker Bevon Lewis but had their fair share of sights on goal.Naps pressed for an opening goal leading up to the halftime break with Jason Hector and McKnight seeing their efforts go wide and just over respectively before a half that was promising, but fruitless.
On the resumption, P/Town spurned a couple glorious chances and were made to rue that in the end.

Midfielder Andre Charles, who was a force throughout , found Marshall on the left and he fought his way inside before hitting a left-footer wide of the far post.Then hardworking Ramnarine orchestrated a play which led to Charles' low effort being fumbled by Sylvester and Brent Julien somehow hit over from close up.Both teams were neck and neck with each other after 60 minutes and it was now anyone's game.But the efforts of Naps stopper Jacey Peters (Coca-Cola "Man-of-the-Match") would pay dividends.

The decider, which saw them to 20 matches unbeaten this year, arrived in the 78th minute when Brown played a free-kick into the box and an advancing Marlon Sylvester was beaten by McKnight's header leaving Kyel Benjamin helpless as he attempted to clear the ball."We not taking that, we not taking that," the P/Town fans were singing but the Green Hornets lost their sting thereafter.Naps almost got a second in added-on time when Kurt Borell's shot smacked off the upright but by then their fans had already began the party.Naparima's celebrations were ecstatic as their fans danced on the cycle track and the tassa drums rolled.

Coach Jan Steadman, captain Brown and goalscorer McKnight were an elated trio."I'm so happy. They are not the most skilful bunch but I simply got them to play to their best ability and it paid off."Hey, this Intercol victory is something new for the new millennium," said Steadman."I would firstly thank the Almighty God for our success. The guys worked really ha all season," Brown added."It was a difficult match but with God there, there was no stopping us. When I saw that ball coming I just started thinking to score this one, it's goals that win matches," said McKnight who hadn't found the target since his team's 2-2 tie with El Dorado SC in the "Big 4" final four matches ago

P/Town coach Desmond "Darko" Bailey was understandably saddened with the loss but praised his players for the effort."This second loss was a better one in the sense that the team last year had more quality. This time the players played with more heart and we fought hard and I am proud of the fellas," he said.

In addition to the Royal Bank Trophy, Naparima also collected a cheque for $12,000}

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