All eight zonal winners and runners-up will be in action today when the BGTT First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Championship Division Big-Eight competition kicks off at three venues.
Pleasantville Secondary, South Zone runner-up, will meet East Zone champion, Valencia Secondary, in the Group B opener at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, from 2 pm, before Group A opens with a clash between South Zone winner, Princes Town West Secondary and Trinity College, Moka, in the second double-header fixture from 4 pm.
Presentation College of Chaguanas and Barataria, the meet in the later Group A fixture, at Presentation Ground, from 3.30 pm.
The other Group B match between Miracle Ministries and QRC will kick off in Carapichaima at the same time.
The Big-Eight competition features the eight teams divided into two groups of four.
After each school plays the others in the group once, the top two finishers will advance to the semifinals. The two semifinal winners will be promoted to next year’s Premier Division competition as will the winner of the third-place playoff.
The semifinals will take place on October 31, before the third-place match and the final on November 4.
Meanwhile, the Girls’ Big-Four competition will feature the four zonal winners: Bishop’s Anstey (North), Point Fortin East (South), St Augustine (East) and Scarborough Secondary (Tobago).
The Girls’ Big-Four will run from Friday with two semifinal matches to November 1 (final).
The Premier Division Big-Four, featuring the top three teams from the completed Premier Division standings and the Championship winner of Tobago, will start on Saturday.
St Anthony’s College will host Speyside Secondary, in Westmoorings, from 3.30 pm, while San Juan North and Naparima clash simultaneously in San Juan.
Championship Division (Big-Eight fixtures)
Today
(Group B) Pleasantville vs Valencia, Manny Ramjohn Stadium, 2 pm
(Group A) Princes Two West vs Trinity College (Moka), Manny Ramjohn Stadium, 4 pm
(Group B) Miracle Ministries vs QRC, Carapichaima, 3.30 pm
Presentation College Chaguanas vs Barataria, Presentation Ground, 3.30 pm
Girls’ Championship Big-Four
Friday
Semifinal 1- St Augustine vs Point Fortin East, St Augustine, 3.30 pm
Semifinal 2- Bishop’s vs Scarborough, Bishop’s, 3.30 pm
November 1
Final- Winner semifinal 1 vs winner semifinal 2, venue to be announced
Championship Division Standings - North Zone
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
QRC 8 7 1 0 34 6 22
Trinity College 8 5 2 1 19 9 17
Tranquility Sec 7 2 2 3 14 19 8
Malick 8 2 1 5 9 17 7
D/Martin Cen 7 0 0 7 3 28 0
South Zone
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
P/Town West 10 7 2 1 26 3 23
P/ville Sec 10 6 2 2 16 4 20
Fyzabad Sec 10 6 1 3 26 6 19
Pt Fortin East 10 4 1 5 10 9 13
Vessigny Sec 10 2 1 7 7 20 7
Mayaro Sec 10 1 1 8 6 39 4
Central Zone
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
Pres Chag 8 7 2 0 38 8 23
Miracle Min 10 7 1 2 20 11 22
ASJA Charlie 8 3 2 3 9 9 11
Couva East 10 3 2 5 10 18 11
Tabaquite Sec 8 3 1 4 13 17 10
Vishnu Boys 10 0 2 8 3 18 2
East Zone
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
Valencia Sec 8 5 2 1 10 7 17
Bar South 8 3 3 2 13 11 12
Five Rivers 8 3 2 3 11 10 11
El Do East 6 1 2 3 5 8 5
S/Grande 6 1 1 4 7 11 4
Tobago
Teams Pld W D L F A Pts
Speyside Sec 11 9 2 0 50 6 29
Signal Hill 12 8 3 1 32 13 27
Pent L&L 11 4 5 2 19 8 17
Roxbor Sec 10 4 1 5 12 39 13
Goodwood Sec 11 2 3 6 4 23 9
Scarbor Sec 10 1 3 6 10 20 6
Bishop’s High 9 0 1 8 7 25 1
QRC take on Miracle Ministries as Big Eight starts
T&T Express Reports.
Central Zone champions Miracle Ministries will tackle North Zone title holders Queen’s Royal College when the BGTT/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Championship Division Big Eight competition kicks off today.
The Group B battle is one of the feature matches of the four quarter-finals today at the Carapichaima Secondary ground from 3:45 p.m. The first group B game is the first of a scheduled doubleheader at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella from 2 p.m.
There, East Zone champs Valencia Secondary are down to oppose South Zone runners-up Fyzabad Secondary, although there was a challenge yesterday over Fyzabad’s presence in the Big Eight because of eligibility issues concerning some of their players.
Yesterday the SSFL’s appeals committee had demoted Pleasantville Secondary as the second-placed South team, deducting them three points which were given to Fyzabad who were moved up in to the runner-up spot.
The second match of the doubleheader is a Group A game featuring South Zone champions Princes Town Secondary, who go up against North Zone runners-up Trinity College from 4 p.m. And in the other Group A match, Central Zone champs Presentation Chaguanas play Barataria South at Presentation College Ground from 3:45.
The top two teams in groups A and B advance to the semi-final stage and the winners of those semi-finals go forward to the final.
The losing semi-finalists will contest a playoff to determine the third team to be promoted to next year’s SSFL Premier Division. The two finalists automatically qualify for the 2015 season of the SSFL’s Premier Division.
Today’s Big Eight Fixtures
Group A
Presentation Chaguanas vs Barataria South, Presentation, 3.45 pm
Princes Town vs Trinity, Manny Ramjohn Stadium, 4pm
Group B
Fyzabad vs Valencia, Manny Ramjohn, 2 pm
Miracle Ministry vs QRC, Carapichaima ground, 3.45 pm