Fatima stumble, 'Compre' draw level.
By Garth Wattley (Trinidad Express)
With the finish line in sight, Fatima College stumbled at the most inopportune time, to leave the race for the North Zone title in the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) wide open like the Queen's Park Savannah.
On their Mucurapo Road home ground, the season-long zonal leaders were humbled 4-1 by third-placed St Anthony's College, while neighbours, defending champions and close title rivals Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive, made hay against pointless Tranquillity, routing them 12-1. Atulla Guerra was the star, scoring half of the dozen.
That smashing win drew 'Compre' level on points with Fatima-24-with two games to go. But Fatima still hold the slimmest of advantages on goal difference-plus 33 to plus 32.
In the other North Zone game yesterday, an ill-tempered affair of four red cards, St Mary's College edged old rivals Queen's Royal College 1-0 at home on Serpentine Road. The visitors finished the game with eight men.
At Mucurapo Road, however, there was not such a hard edge to the game. Surprisingly, the Fatima lads didn't play with the concerted energy of ones with so much at stake. The game was relatively tight, though, until Akil De Freitas intervened. The St Anthony's captain had been fairly anonymous until the 31st minute when his quick-footed work and square pass to Stefan St Louis resulted in a penalty when St Louis was pulled down. Uriah Bentick did not miss from the spot.
From then on, the penetrative De Freitas had more influence on the game. There was no one similarly inspired for the home side. And before half time, Fatima conceded a second goal, when a low, right side freekick found Lester Peltier, who got ahead of the lethargic defence to help the ball beyond goalkeeper Adrian Foncette.
Fatima, however, were given a lifeline before the interval when they received a penalty of their own. But this was only after one of the referee's assistants had pointed out that an infringement, originally given as a freekick, had actually been committed inside the St Anthony's 18-metre box. Marvin James duly converted for Fatima.
That 41st minute penalty goal should have been the tonic to shift the zonal leaders into third gear. But instead, in the second half, they remained in neutral as the "Tigers" wounded them twice further.
In the 52nd minute, the unmarked Peltier got his second when he finished clinically from the right side of the Fatima 18-metre box, following a pass from the centre. By the 80th, the Fatima players seemed resigned to defeat. So, De Freitas' conversion of a second St Anthony's penalty when another of his penetrating runs resulted in him being fouled, was more like the icing on the Tigers' cake rather than the decisive nail in the Fatima coffin.
Strangely, it was only thereafter that the home side began to show some of the urgency required much earlier. In the very last minute, Kevon Villaroel's shot struck the base of St Anthony's left upright.
But the echo of that failure would have been just more music in the ears of Fatima's Mucurapo neighbours.
St Augustine trounce Arima.
By Garth Wattley (Trinidad Express).
El Dorado Senior Comprehensive prevented San Juan Secondary from starting their zonal celebrations yesterday when their scheduled opponents St George's College failed to muster a team at that school's ground in Barataria.
By forfeiting the game, St George's automatically granted the Blue Thunder a 3-0 victory and forced San Juan, on a bye in yesterday's round of matches, to delay their occupation of the sole Big Five spot available in the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) East Zone.
Eldo are now on 19 points, four behind San Juan, and this year's surprise team will have to win their match again Eldo Tuesday to lift the zonal crown.
In other games, St Augustine Secondary trounced arch-rivals Arima Senior Comprehensive 4-0 to stay in third spot. They got their goals from Devon Thomas, Elton John, Shastri Spencer and Mark Aliby. And Malabar Composite upset Hillview College 2-0.
‘Naps’ retain South Zone crown.
T&T Newsday Reports.[/size]
Naparima completed a successful start to the British Gas Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) 2005 season as they retained their South Zone title yesterday.
A goalless draw against Vessigny at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella was enough to give "Naps" an unassailable eight-point lead with two matches to go.
Princes Town jumped to second place following a 2-0 win away to Moruga while Fyzabad got their third straight win — 1-0 at home to St Benedict’s.
Presentation College of Chagua-nas maintained their top position in the Central Zone with a 6-1 thrashing of visitors Tabaquite, with Marvin Manswell notching a hat-trick while Dion Lewis added two and Dwayne Nicome, one.
Carapichaima also registered a crushing victory — 7-0 over Union Claxton Bay, with Andre Marchan scoring two while Keron Smith, Dwayne Spencer, Michael Renaud, Manucan Stephen and Joel Men-doza netted one each.
In the first match of the double-header, Marabella edged Chagua-nas 2-1.
With East Zone leaders San Juan on a bye, the "Blue Thunder" El Dorado narrowed the gap to four points with a 3-0 default victory against St George’s.
Dethroned champs St Augustine spanked the "Dial Dynamos" Arima 4-0 at the Arima Municipal Stadium, with Devon Thomas, Elton Thomas, Mark Alibey and Shastri Spencer on target for the "Green Machine."
And Malabar cruised past Hillview 2-0 at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Tunapuna.
The "Westmoorings Tigers" continued their fine form of late, spanking North Zone leaders Fatima 4-1 at the Fatima Ground. Uriah Bentick opened the Tigers’ account with a penalty, after a foul on captain Akil De Freitas, while Lester Peltier doubled the lead midway in the first half, shooting home a Tarik Hartley free-kick past Fatima’s goalkeeper Adrian Foncette.
Fatima’s captain Machel James reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a penalty but, in the second half, Peltier got his second, rifling home a cross from Stefan St Louis, while De Freitas won and converted a penalty to complete the win for the Tigers.
Mucurapo recorded the day’s biggest win, mauling Tranquillity 12-0 at the St Anthony’s Ground in Westmoorings while St Mary’s pipped arch-rivals QRC 1-0 at the St Mary’s Ground, St Clair.
In related news, Lewis and Kevon Jagessar were on target as Presentation defeated Carapichai-ma 2-0 in a rescheduled Central clash on Monday last. And Fatima edged Malick 2-1 in another rescheduled fixture, this time in the North. Matches continue on Tuesday in the North, East, South, Central and Tobago Zones.
Yesterday's SSFL scores:
North Zone
Fatima 1 (Marvin James) v St Anthony's 4 (Uriah Bentick, Lester Peltier 2, Akil De Freitas)
St Mary's 1 (Kashif Clarke) v QRC 0
Tranquillity 1 (Keron Simmons) v Mucurapo 12 (Atulla Guerra 6, Akim Armstrong 3, Kerron Cummings 2, Jesse Alexis)
South Zone
Fyzabad 1 v Benedict's 0
Moruga 0 v Princes Town 2
Naparima 0 v Vessigny 0
East Zone
Arima 0 v St Augustine 4 (Devon Thomas, Elton John, Shastri Spencer, Mark Aliby)
Hillview 0 v Malabar Composite 2
St George's 0 v El Dorado 3 (St George's forfeited game)
Central Zone
Presentation 6 v Tabaquite 1
Marabella 2 v Chaguanas 1
Carapichaima 7 v UCB 0
