Excelsior High's head coach, Leebert Halliman (left), hugs Christopher Thorpe after he had converted the decisive penalty to earn his team a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over St George's College in their ISSA/LIME Walker Cup semi-final match yesterday at the Constant Spring Sports Complex. The two teams were locked at 0-0 after full and extra-time. - Ian Allen

They say attack wins matches and defence wins championships and this seems to be the motto Excelsior High are living by in the 2013 Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/LIME Walker Cup Knockout competition.

Yesterday, they blunted the attack of high riding St George's College in the first semi-final at the Constant Spring Sports Complex before advancing 4-2 on penalties.

Excelsior will again go in as the underdogs, a tag they have been relishing, when they meet defending champions, Wolmer's Boys, in the final. Wolmer's fought back from two goals down to beat Charlie Smith High 3-2 in a thrilling second semi-final.

Both Charlie Smith's goals were scored by captain Vasbert Harry (14th and 46th), but Wolmer's struck back through strikes from Rennico Clarke (52nd), Jordan James (61st) and Jaheel Hyde (90+3).

Harry's opening goal was from the penalty spot, but his second was a spectacular shot from smack in the centre of the field, as he scored directly from the second-half kick-off.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, however, as after Clarke and James had pulled Wolmer's level the team's leading scorer, Hyde, stepped up to take a 25-yard free kick in the third minute of stoppage time. His shot took a wicked deflection and flew past Leon Taylor in Charlie Smith's goal to send the maroon clad team's supporters into wild celebrations.

In the opening match, St George's should have wrapped up the game from the first half, but they were wasteful in front of goal allowing Excelsior to tighten the defensive screws in the second half and for the 20 minutes of extra-time.

With the game locked at 0-0 after 120 minutes the dreaded penalty shoot-out was employed to separate the teams.

Excelsior's first two kickers, Kareem Banton and Domoni Morias, converted with St George's Ryan Miller and Oshane Banton doing likewise.

Excelsior's Romaine Hosang was the first to lose his nerves when he kicked wide of the right post.

This opened the door for St George's, but the opportunity was squandered, as both Martin Davis and Shevon Stewart struck tame spot kicks which were easily saved by Excelsior's custodian Jonah Morgan.

It was then down to Christopher Thorpe to keep Excelsior on course for their eighth Walker Cup title and he obliged, as he hammered his shot to the left of St George's goalkeeper Cordell Irving.

"It is a bit of a lottery when you get to penalties," St George's coach, Neville Bell, expressed. "I don't think they (Excelsior) got the better of us in the run of play, but they certainly got the better of us from the penalty spot."

Leebert Halliman, coach of Excelsior, was pleased that his tactics paid dividends.

"St George's are probably one of the best attacking teams in the competition, so we could not open up and play man to man with them," Halliman reasoned. "We had to sit back and play on the counter and when they came close to our goal we pressed for the ball."

Charlie Smith High's Kimani Arbouine (right) dribbles away from Romario Atkinson of Wolmer's, during their ISSA/LIME Walker Cup semi-final football match at the Constant Spring Complex yesterday. Wolmer's came from two goals down to win 3-2.

Excelsior High's goalkeeper, Jonah Morgan, is hoisted by jubilant spectators after he pulled off two saves to help his team to a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over St George's College, in their ISSA/LIME Waker Cup KO semi-final match at the Constant Spring Complex yesterday. The teams were locked at 0-0 after full and extra-time. - Ian Allen