Fatima, St Benedict's keep marching on.
By Nigel Simon (T&T Guardian).
Fatima College and St Benedict's College stayed in pole position to secure the semifinal spots from Group A with comfortable away wins when Round Four matches in the Tiger Tanks Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division resumed with four matches, yesterday.
Playing in one of two early matches on schedule, the Hutson Charles-coached Fatima College got a goal each from Chaim Williams, Joshua Mason, Alijah Nunes, Christian Bailey, and Michael Chaves to blank host Pleasantville Secondary, 5-0, at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium training field, Marabella.
The win was the third on the trot for Fatima to remain unbeaten after four matches with ten points, the same as St Benedict's College who secured an important road win at Morne Coco Road, Westmoorings over the St Anthony's College "Westmooring Tigers", 3-0, led by a first-half double from Tarik Lee in the 18th and 24th, and a second-half penalty from Nishon Alexander in the 62nd while the host also missed a penalty in the 82nd minute.
Defending champion Naparima College kept its hopes of a top two group finish alive with a 7-0 trashing of Speyside in ther early match at Lewis Street, San Fernando led by braces from Kanye Francis, and Nathaniel O'Garro with Jabari Forbes, Omari Campbell, and Israel Joseph also on target for the hosts.
In the day's other match, Carapichaima East Secondary blasted St Augustine East Secondary 5-2 in a clash of teams looking for their first points with Ethan Troman scoring a pair of goals for the winner and Kirziah Myers, Tyrese David and Josiah Hypolite with a later penalty also on target.
For St Augustine, Alex Piper and Isaiah Nicholas got a goal each before Juburili Williams sent off in the 89th minute.
Group B will resume tomorrow with joint leaders, San Juan North and Presentation College, both with a maximum of nine points from three matches each, hoping to remain the lone two teams with 100 percent winning records.
San Juan North will travel to Trinity College East at Trincity while Presentation hosts Moruga Secondary at Union Hall.
In the two other Group B matches on Wednesday, Malick Secondary entertains Queen's Royal College at St Mary's College Ground, Serpentine Road, St Clair, while Chaguanas North Secondary is at home to East Mucurapo Secondary at African Grounds, Enterprise.
The new format of the 16-team Premier Division sees the teams divided into two groups of eight teams for one round of round-robin competition, that’s seven matches for each team, at the end of which the top two in each pool will advance to the crossover semifinals on October 21 ahead of the final four days later.
Both the semifinals and final are slated for either the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo or the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
The bottom-placed team in each pool will be automatically relegated and will be joined by the losers of the playoff between the two teams to finish second from the bottom in their respective groups.
At the same time, the winners of the five Championship Boys Divisions which will comprise six teams team will then contest a “Big-Five” round-robin series at the end of which the top three finishers will gain promotion to the 2023 Premier Division.
Yesterday's results:
Group A:
Fatima College 5 (Chaim Williams, Joshua Mason, Alijah Nunes, Christian Bailey, Michael Chaves) vs Pleasantville Sec 0
Naparima College 7 (Kanye Francis 2, Nathaniel O'Garro 2, Jabari Forbes, Omari Campbell, Israel Joseph) vs Speyside High 0
Carapichaima East 5 (Ethan Trotman 2, Tyrese David, Kirziah Myers, Josiah Hypolite pen) vs St Augustine Sec 2 (Alexis Piper, Isaiah Nicholas)
St Benedict's College 3 (Tarik Lee 18th, 24th, Neshon Alexander 62nd pen) vs St Anthony's College 0
Current standings
Group A:
Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
Fatima*4*3*1*0*18*2*10
St Benedict’s*4*3*1*0*15*1*10
Naparima*3*2*0*1*17*3*6
Speyside Sec*4*2*0*2*7*11*6
St Anthony’s*4*2*0*2*6*7*6
Carapichaima East*4*1*0*3*5*25*3
Pleasantville*2*0*0*2*0*7*0
St Augustine*3*0*0*3*5*17*0
Group B:
Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
San Juan North*3*3*0*0*21*1*9
Presentation (San F’do)*3*3*0*0*6*2*9
QRC*3*1*1*1*8*7*4
Chaguanas North*3*1*1*1*5*15*4
East Mucurapo*3*1*0*2*8*6*3
Trinity East*3*1*0*2*3*2*3
Malick Sec*3*1*0*2*2*6*3
Moruga*3*0*0*2*1*11*0
Round Four
Kick-off is 4 pm unless otherwise stated:
Tomorrow:
Group B:
Trinity College East vs San Juan North Sec, Trinity College East, Trincity
Presentation College vs Moruga Secondary, Union Hall, San Fernando.
Malick Secondary vs QRC, St Mary's College Ground, Serpentine Road, St Clair
Chaguanas North Secondary vs East Mucurapo Secondary, African Grounds, Enterprise.
Leading scorers:
11 - Larry Noel (San Juan North)
5 - Chaim Williams (Fatima)
4 - Nathaniel O’Garro (Naparima),
3 - Caleb Boyce (Presentation), Kedell Jones (San Juan North), Omari Campbell, Kanye Francis (Naparima), Joshua Mason, Christian Bailey (Fatima)
2 - Milz Johnson, Jarlon Toppin (Speyside), Zion Harley, Maalik Jarvis (East Mucurapo), Khiba Romany (Fatima), Ephraim Brown, Tarik Lee, Jaden Grant (St Benedict’s), Tau Lemsee (QRC), Jaheim Faustin (Trinity East), Joshua Miller, Theo Crovador (St Anthony's), Lindell Sween (San Juan North), Israel Joseph (Naparima), Alex Piper (St Augustine), Ethan Trotman (Carapichaima East)
1 - Jabari Forbes, Andres France, Terrell Rajoon, Josiah Cooper (Naparima), Jameel Cooper, Isaiah Nicholas, Marcel Valentine (St Augustine), Reyes Gray, Lenox Eastman, Tyrell Moore (Speyside), Mordacia Forde, Aadon Wilson-Wright (St Anthony’s), J'Lon Matthews, Oba Samuel (Malick), Mikel Toussaint, Al-Kalipha Henry (East Mucurapo), Santana Smith (Moruga), Josiah Ochoa, Jeremiah Nile, Derrell Garcia, Nicholas Bobcombe, Tyrique Lucas (St Benedict’s), Alijah Nunes, Michael Chaves, Nathan Achin, Luke Correia, Aidan De Gannes (Fatima), Adah Barclay, Micah Braithwaite, Levi Jones (Presentation), Teshaun Franklyn, Aydon Caruth, Zakari King, Musaddiq Mohammed, Stephon Jones, Micah Nelson (QRC), Khaleem Prince (Trinity East), Elizsha Rogers, Rondell Harewood, Jardiel Joseph, Kent Guy (San Juan North), Hezekiah John, Justin Lewis (Chaguanas North), Josiah Hypolite, Kirziah Myers, Tyrese David (Carapichaima East)