Lady Cougars 2 PHC 0

Late second-half strikes from Chivaughn Furbert and Cheyra Bell propelled Lady Cougars to Konica Cup glory ? and floored PHC?s bid for a hat-trick of women?s cup titles at the National Sports Centre yesterday.

After both teams failed to break the ice during a scoreless opening half which saw possession evenly shared and Cougars guilty of squandering golden opportunities, the dynamic duo combined in the closing minutes to kill off the Zebras.

PHC?s defeat was further compounded with the losses of Stacy Babb and Carla Hall, both to injuries, in the second half.

Furbert gave Cougars the lead they deserved in the 70th minute when she latched onto Bell?s pass through the middle after PHC had been dispossessed deep in their half and watched in joy as her partially-saved effort had just enough heat on it to trickle across the line with Babb in hot pursuit.

Thirteen minutes later, Bell, who had earlier missed a plethora of chances, planted her shot into the roof of the net after being fed by team captain Naquita Dill.

Moments after receiving the cup from Sports Minister Dale Butler, Dill told The Royal Gazette: ?I think we came out here today and completed the job we knew we were capable of doing. I thought we played as a team and eventually I knew we would come out on top. Once we started to play our game, everything else gradually gelled together.?

The smiles on Bell?s face spoke volumes, perhaps for making amends for a glaring first-half miss in front of an empty goal.

?I really had to let that go because I know my ability and I knew eventually another opportunity would come,? she said.

And as she has done so many times in the past, it was Furbert?s strike that effectively ended Zebras? stranglehold on the cup.

?The key was to stay close to my other striker (Bell) and it just happened so that I was in position to take advantage of a little fumble in the box and put the ball away,? she said.

Displaying the hallmarks of true sportsmanship, Zebras? captain Maria Smith-Tannock took the defeat in stride.

?Unfortunately we had two players go down injured and I think that?s what really cost us in the end,? she said. ?So it was unfortunate. However, we may be down at the moment, but we are certainly not out.?