Garvey Maceo High of Clarendon won the ISSA/Wata daCosta Cup after beating McGrath High 5-3 on penalty kicks at the National Stadium on Saturday, December 7th, 2024, after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw on the final kick deep into added time.
This was the second consecutive penalty shoot-out win for Garvey Maceo High after beating title favorites Glenmuir High 4-2 on penalties in the semi-finals after holding them to a 0-0 draw.
It was the third title for ‘The Cubans’ and first for first-year head coach Lester Hibbert, but McGrath High was literally seconds away from winning their first daCosta Cup title after winning the Ben Francis Cup last year.
First-time finalists McGrath were seconds away from becoming the 14th school to win the competition, leading 1-0 in regulation from Devone Davis’ first-half goals before Omarian O’Brian stepped up to score the equalizer with what must have been the final kick of the competition and forcing the shoot out.
McGrath High took the lead when Davis scored in the 15th minute, taking advantage of poor defending by Garvey Maceo.
Davis also spent a long time on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, which eventually forced his substitution early in the second half. He got by a defender, dribbled into the area, and, after he was allowed time, powered the ball past goalkeeper Garfield Tomlinson, who managed to get his gloves on the ball.
Garvey Maceo was outplayed for most of the game. However, they rallied late and were rewarded when O’Brian wove his way past a crowd of defenders and fired a low shot into the left-hand corner of the goal.
