XLCR, C'down off to final
published: Sunday | November 7, 2004

- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
Excelsior's Ricardo Ximines (left) is shielded from the ball by Mona's Decoy Williams during their Walker Cup semi-final at Emmet Park yesterday.

Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer

EXCELSIOR AND Camperdown staked their claims for the Corporate Area schoolboy football double by qualifying for the final of the Walker Cup with 2-0 and 2-1 wins over Mona and Wolmer's respectively in semi-final action at Emmet Park yesterday.

To many football pundits, the November 27 face-off for the Walker Cup should be a replay of the Manning Cup final scheduled for November 20. That, however, is yet to be seen as defending Manning Cup champions Excelsior will have to get past St. George's and Camperdown must beat Calabar before they can harbour any thoughts of contesting the double together.

In the first game of yesterday's doubleheader, Camperdown, through goals from Stephan Ferguson (22nd minute) and an own goal after Rayon Markland's powerhouse shot was deflected by a defender in the 29th minute, took the early initiative against Wolmer's.

WOLMER'S FIGHTING

However, at the turn of the halves, Wolmer's came out fighting as it was their final hope of claiming a major football title this year following their elimination at the quarter-final stage of the Manning Cup.

Substitute Navion Boyd, Jermaine Gardner and Dehmar Crearey threatening to take the Camperdown defence apart with some daunting moves into their penalty box. One such move paid dividents in the 64th minute when Crearey was on hand to hit home a Kenroy McKoy cross past Camperdown's goalie Andrew Land to pull one back.

Realising that Camperdown's one-goal cushion might not be enough because of the way Wolmer's were beginning to play, Camperdown's John Ross Edwards (sidelined for the entire season due to a broken bone in his left hand) released a rasping shot from the top of Wolmer's box that beat goalkeeper Ricardo Hyman and cannoned into the upright before rebounding into play. But it did not hit the wind out of Wolmer's who pressed on.

GOODNIGHT

With the final whistle approaching, Wolmer's searched hard for the equaliser that would have sent the game into extra-time. However, when Boyd failed to get on to the end of a brilliant aerial ball coming from deep down in his half, the referee's whistle sang out loudly, 'goodnight sweet prince, better luck next time'.

Meanwhile in the second game which saw Excelsior playing Mona, Anthony Christie narrowly missed out on a hat-trick after Mona's goalie, Ron Graham, used his body to stop what looked to be a certain goal in the 87th minute.

Earlier, Christie netted from the penalty spot after Ricardo Haynes was cut down in the box by Kemar Rodney in the 25th minute. Cool customer Christie got his second in the 54th minute by slotting home a Nicardo Brown cross past Graham.