Knox gets double against newcomers.
By: Kwame Williams (Guardian).[/size]
Striker Stephen Knox scored twice for Fatima, as the defending Intercol champions ground out a 3-1 win over new boys Trinity yesterday, at Fatima Grounds, Mucurapo.
It was an exercise in wastefulness from the home team, who squandered countless scoring chances in both halves.
Fatima hardly played like the team that clinched the North Zone and National Intercol crowns last year. The team seemed to lack desire in front of goal and looked almost uninterested at times.
Trinity, on the other hand, must feel hard done by, after matching Fatima for almost the entire match.
T&T Under-16 team forward, Chad De Freitas, got Fatima’s first chance in the eighth minute, latching on to a well-weighted crossfield ball from left-winger Kieran Marin and making his way into the box. His shot flashed across the face of the goal.
Eight mintes later, Knox opened his SSFL account when he lobbed onrushing Trinity goalkeeper Zane Coker.
Knox, the top scorer at last month’s Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Youth Tournament in Trinidad, could have had a second shortly afterwards, but was kept out by Coker after dribbling past two defenders and shooting.
He missed another chance to double his team’s lead in the 22nd, national team-mate Brendon Balbosa putting him through on goal, but the young marksman hit straight to the keeper.
Another national Under-16 player, Jean Luc Rochford, was guilty of some poor finishing midway through the half, scuffing his shot with Coker as good as beaten.
In the second half, it was more of the same from the home team. Striker Jevon Morris ran onto a through ball from De Freitas in the 53rd and with Coker’s goal at his mercy, hit the crossbar.
Fatima was made to pay for missed opportunities in the 60th, when a left-sided corner was met by Brian Andrews, whose glancing header beat Fatima goalie Adrian Foncette all ends up.
De Freitas put the champions back in front in the 83rd in true opportunistic fashion, tapping past Coker when the ball fell nicely for him just inside the box.
In time added on, some nifty footwork by Fatima substitute Deon Joseph in the box left defender Randy Primus with no option but to upend him. The referee wasted no time in signalling a penatly kick, which Knox calmly slotted home.
St Augustine clobber Arima.
Naps win again.
By: Roger Seepersad & Mervyn Stewart (Express).[/size]
St Augustine Secondary Comprehensive striker Daniel Joseph, left, has a crack at goal after getting past Arima Senior Comprehensive custodian Craig Joseph, at the St Augustine Ground, in East Zone Secondary Schools Football League action, yesterday. The "Green Machine" demolished Arima 12-0.
St Augustine dominated in their BG T&T East Zone Secondary Schools Football League encounter against Arima Senior Comprehensive, at the St Augustine Ground, yesterday, winning the match by a huge 12-0 margin.
St Augustine struck the back of the net eight times in the first half with four goals coming from Daniel Joseph. Joseph opened the scoring in the 14th minute, going around the keeper and scoring from close range. Eight minutes later, Elton John made it 2-0, with a well worked corner and another close-range shot.
St Augustine, at this stage, were controlling the flow of play, dominating the midfield and winning the ball in the right areas. It did not take long for them to score again. In the 26th minute, Joseph netted the second of his five goals. He would add two more in the first half, in the 31st and 35th minutes, in a goal scoring frenzy that saw three goals scored in four minutes.
In the second half, St Augustine continued to roll over Arima. Kareem Paul scored his first goal of the game in the 49th minute, and then, in the 53rd, Joseph netted his fifth.
Anthony Moses, coming on as a substitute for Joseph, continued the goal-fest, scoring twice, in the 62nd and 70th minutes. And in the 87th, Glynn Franklin finished off the scoring to put an end to Arima's misery.
Down in the south, defending champions Naparima College stopped Moruga 2-1, at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium.
"Naps" opened the scoring in the 29th minute, when Nigel Wright's shot from 12 metres out slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Kelvin Guevarro, much to the delight of the small band of fans.
The boys in blue and white continued to put pressure on the visitors, and with one minute to the interval, Wright raced down the right flank, and crossed to Javed Mohammed, who slapped the ball past a bewildered Guevarro.
In the second session, the visitors played some enterprising football, and it was no surprise when Rennie Pope's powerful right-footer deflected into the net in the 54th with Naparima goalkeeper Curtis Julien looking on hopelessly.
Moruga pressed relentlessly for the equaliser, but sound defensive work by "Naps" skipper Sherrick Hillaire, Dazel Lara and Isiah Smith kept Moruga at bay.
Malick tame Tigers.
Saints edge Royalians.
By: Kern De Freitas & Mark Pouchet (Express).[/size]
St Anthony's College's Westmoorings home base has become a happy hunting ground for Malick Senior Comprehensive.
Malick proved that when they humbled the fighting "Tigers" of St Anthony's 1-0 via a 78th minute strike by second-half substitute Keron Ross in Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) North Zone action, yesterday.
For two years running, late Malick strikes have denied St Anthony's victory at home over their opponents from Morvant, earning the visitors 1-1 draws. This year, Malick went a step further, preventing their rivals from taking an early lead in the North Zone.
The opening minutes of the match-up belonged to the home team. Malick were forced back into their own half early, but Qian Grosvenor-the St Anthony's hero in the opener against QRC last Thursday-shot wide in the fifth minute.
Malick got into the game soon after, and the speedy Anthony Applewhite-who along with the skilful Kaashif Thomas would prove the major threat for Malick in the first period-tested St Anthony's custodian Kevin Mussio. However, the former national under-17 goalkeeper proved equal to the task.
The best chance of the half was Kevon Villaroel's 34th minute shot, which beat the Malick goalie, Nicholas Alexander, but struck the crossbar. Villaroel had a similar effort saved on the second attempt by Alexander, in the 39th, as the teams remained deadlocked at 0-0 at the interval.
St Anthony's came close on several occasions in the second half, but some wayward shooting kept them from taking the lead against a hard-working Malick defence.
The "Tigers" would regret those misses when Ross rose to head home the 78th minute corner.
St Anthony's piled on the pressure, but Malick, thanks in the main to an alert Alexander, were able to hold on for the win in their first outing this season.
Over at Queen's Royal College's St Clair Avenue Grounds, St Mary's shocked the hosts 3-2 to condemn them to their second loss in as many matches.
Jerrel Britto's double effort (12th, 34th) had put QRC comfortably ahead, and they looked like cruising to victory. However, Veer Lackhan-Joseph pulled one back for St Mary's in the 37th minute, and then, in the second half, Maurice Beggs stunned QRC with a 53rd-minute equaliser, before Donnell Harewood capped off a good day for the "Saints" with a 75th-minute winner.
RESULTS
NORTH ZONE
Fatima 3 (Stephen Knox 16th, 90th, Chad De Freitas 83rd) vs Trinity 1 (Brian Andrews 60th).
St Anthony’s 0 vs Malick 1 (Keron Ross).
QRC 2 (Jerrel Britto 12, 34)vs St Mary’s 3 (Veer Lackhan-Joseph 37, Maurice Beggs 53, Donnell Harewood 75).
EAST ZONE
El Dorado 7 (Jamal Gray 2, Akeel Lynch 2, Keron Edwards, Kendall Alleyne, Akeel Pope) vs Malabar 0.
Hillview 1 v San Juan 2.
St Augustine 12 (Daniel Joseph 14, 26, 31, 35, 59, Elton John 22, Kareem Paul 49, Anthony Moses 62, 70, Glynn Franklin 87) vs Arima 0.
SOUTH ZONE
Vessigny 1 (Kareem Balthazar 47th) vs Princes Town 2 (Jessie Edwards 20th, Shevone Fredericks 44th).
Naparima 2 (Nigel Wright, Javed Mohammed) v Moruga Composite 1 (Rennie Pope).
Fyzabad Composite 0 v Presentation College (San F’do) 2 (Robert Als 26th, Derwin Lee 54th).
