INTEREST in the race for top honours in all four zones of the BWIA Secondary Schools Football League heightened after Tuesday's matches as the young aspiring footballers began their busiest week of competition - they play three times with only a one day break in between.
St Mary's began the week as table-toppers in the North Zone but, through its own fault, surrendered that lead to Queen's Royal College (QRC) and Malick. Mucurapo (nine pts) gained sole possession of second spot just one point behind QRC and Malick with a 1-0 victory over the Saints, for which it should still be thanking its lucky stars.
Either QRC or Malick could become single leaders today when they meet in a top-of-the-table clash at St Clair. Should they fail to deliver the goods then Mucurapo would go on to the top if it were to succeed in getting past newcomers Success/Laventille, who have lost its last three consecutive matches.
And, provided that Mucurapo falls short, St Mary's would be back in contention with a win over cellar-placed Trinity at Moka, Maraval. Tranquillity and St Anthony's, both locked in mid division with six points each, square up at the Queen's Park Oval in the day's other match in the North Zone.
In South, the lead could also change with the first and second, St Benedict's (13 pts) and Naparima (12 pts), jostling it out at Skinner Park.St Benedict's has been scoring heavily - 23 goals in five matches - and it cannot be taken too lightly, having whipped Pleasantville 6-0 Tuesday.
Naparima, on the other hand, after losing its first match (1-3) to Pleasantville, scored a workmanlike 7-0 win over lowly- placed Moruga Tuesday, showing its intent to keep its title.First-timer Vessigny (third) and Mayaro (fourth) will do battle at Mayaro in the other match of interest in the southland.
Like in the two other zones, joint leaders in the East/Central, Arima and San Juan, face each other at San Juan. The pair are clear in the lead with 13 points.El Dorado, who were edged 1-0 by San Juan Saturday, stands a good chance of closing the gap when it journeys to Chaguanas to tackle bottom-of-the-table Presentation.