Champions-elect of the 2024 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), St. Benedict’s College, will have the chance to complete an undefeated season when they take on St. Mary’s College at Serpentine Road on Friday.
St. Benedict’s, last season’s runners-up, confirmed themselves as champions on Tuesday thanks to an 8-0 spanking of Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High on the back of five goals from captain Derrel Garcia who took his tally this season to 16 goals.
The win gave them a six-point lead over 2023 champions Fatima College with both teams having one game left. Fatima will face Malick Secondary on Friday.
Presentation College are level on points with Fatima heading into their Friday tussle with sixth-placed Naparima College.
Fourth-placed St. Anthony’s College will take on ninth-placed San Juan North while fifth-placed Arima North will face 14th-placed Speyside High.
Other Friday fixtures include Miracle Ministries vs Trinity College, Signal Hill vs East Mucurapo and St. Augustine Secondary vs Queen’s Royal College.
Leaders St Benedict's College (35 points) can clinch their second Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) premier division crown in three years on Tuesday when they face the relegation-threatened Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (seven points) at the Mahaica Sporting Complex in Point Fortin in round 14 action.
St. Benedict's, winners of the premier division in 2022, have a six-point lead on the 16-team table ahead of challengers Presentation College San Fernando and holders Fatima College (both 29 with points).
With only a point against the visiting Miracle Ministries team, Benedict's will be able to claim the premier division crown while, on the other hand, their opponents will be looking to climb out of the relegation zone.
In Trincity, the 13th-placed Trinity College (10 points) will also have their eyes set on steering clear of the relegation zone when they host the third-placed Presentation.
Trinity are just one point ahead of the 14th-placed Speyside Secondary in the relegation zone, and a victory against the national intercol holders will be a huge step in their race for survival.
At the Arima Velodrome, hosts Arima North Secondary (24 points) will aim to keep their unbeaten 12-game run going when they welcome the second-placed Fatima.
The fourth-placed Arima have conceded just six goals in the league this season, will look to keep their defense strong against the league's highest scorers Fatima who have scored 40 goals.
At their Westmoorings base, St Anthony's College (24 points) will try to crack into the top four when they play the 12th-placed Signal Hill Secondary (ten points).
At the Speyside recreation ground, Speyside (nine points) will go after a much-needed three points when they host struggling St Mary's College (13 points).
At Fatima ground in Mucurapo, the cellar-placed East Mucurapo Secondary (six points) will also go in search of precious points when they entertain Queen's Royal College (17 points).
QRC are in ninth spot and well clear of the relegation zone, but Mucurapo will desperately need to find the winning touch if they are to remain in the premier division for another season.
At Lewis Street, San Fernando, four-time premier division champs Naparima College (22 points) will try to return to winning ways when they meet the tenth-placed San Juan North Secondary (13 points).
At Serpentine Road, St Clair, there will be an intriguing middle-table clash when the eighth-placed Malick Secondary (17 points) tackle a resurgent, seventh-placed St Augustine Secondary (21 points) outfit.
Presentation College closed the gap between them and leaders St. Benedict’s College in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) to four points with a 2-0 win over San Juan North Secondary on Saturday.
A second half double from Vaughn Clement gave Presentation the win and moved them to 28 points from 11 games with a game in hand on the leaders.
Clement’s goals came in the 56th and 89th minutes.
Leaders St. Benedict’s dropped points after being held to a 1-1 draw by Signal Hill Secondary. The prolific Derrel Garcia gave St. Benedict’s the lead in the 55th minute before Kyle James equalized for Signal Hill 20 minutes from full time.
Defending champions Fatima College were the biggest winners of the day, 5-1 over East Mucurapo Secondary.
Liam Gooding (41’) and Michael Chaves (43’) scored in quick succession to give Fatima a 2-0 lead going into the halftime interval before Keysan Haynes gave East Mucurapo life in the 60th minute to make it 2-1.
That hope was quickly dashed as Seth Hadeed (64’) made it 3-1 before Josiah Gobin (74’, 86’) completed the scoring. Fatima remain third in the standings with 26 points from their 12 outings.
Other results on Saturday:
Arima North Secondary 2-0 St. Mary’s College
Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School 3-2 Malick Secondary
Queen’s Royal College 4-1 Trinity College East
Speyside Secondary 0-1 St. Anthony’s College
St. Augustine Secondary 3-1 Naparima College
A brace from captain Derrel Garcia propelled ten-man St Benedict's College to a 2-0 victory over East Mucurapo Secondary School to strengthen their lead atop the Premier Division of the Secondary Schools Football League at the Queen’s Royal College Ground, Serpentine Road, Port-of-Spain on Saturday.
Garcia’s first goal came in the 59th minute as he quickly latched on to a Cam'Ron Burke pass before unleashing a right-footed shot from 20-yards out that beat Mucurapo goalkeeper Orlando Francis.
The former Trinidad & Tobago youth player got his second goal of the game nine minutes from full time with a brilliantly placed strike from just outside the box after beating two defenders.
The win instead ensured that St. Benedict's College maintained a six-point advantage at the top while defending champions Fatima College played to 2-2 draw with Speyside at their home ground on Mucurapo Road, Port-of-Spain.
The other results on Saturday were as follows:
Malick Secondary 1-3 Presentation College
Fatima College 2-2 Speyside Secondary
Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High 1-1 Signal Hill Secondary
Naparima College 2-0 St Mary's College
St Anthony's College 4-1 Queen’s Royal College
St Augustine Secondary 1-1 San Juan North Secondary
Trinity College 1-1 Arima North Secondary
St. Benedict’s lead the 16-team table with 28 points from 10 games, six ahead of Presentation in second and eight ahead of defending champions Fatima College in third.
St. Anthony’s and Arima North close out the top five with 18 points each while the top 10 is rounded out by Naparima (15 points), St. Augustine (14 points), QRC (13 points), Malick (11 points) and San Juan North (10 points).
St. Mary’s (10 points), Signal Hill (9 points), Trinity East (7 points), Speyside (6 points), East Mucurapo (6 points) and Miracle Ministries (4 points) round out the points standings.
St. Benedict’s College are now leaders of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premiership after a hard fought 1-0 win over four-time premier division winners Naparima College at the Mahaica Oval in Port Fortin on Saturday.
The 2022 champions and 2023 runners-up got a second minute goal from Trinidad and Tobago youth player Josiah Ochoa to continue their unbeaten run in the young league season.
Reigning champions Fatima College were also winners on Saturday, 2-0 away to national intercol holders Presentation College (San Fernando) at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
The goals came from Levi Smith in the 75th minute and reigning SSFL Player of the Year, Michael Chaves in stoppage time.
Arima North Secondary and Malick Secondary entered the match day atop the 16-team table, and they still couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes at the Arima Velodrome as they played to a 1-1 draw.
Josante Duncan opened the scoring for Malick in the 28th minute, with Arima getting a 54th-minute equaliser through former Fatima student Micha’el John.
On Serpentine Road, St Clair, hosts St Mary’s College and Signal Hill Secondary played to a 2-2 draw.
Signal Hill took the lead in the fourth minute through Khaleem Trim before a brace from St. Mary’s captain Kyle Phillip in the 31st and 49th minutes gave them a 2-1 lead.
That lead lasted just 10 minutes as Antonio Hopkins equalised for Signal Hill.
Newly promoted Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School, who conceded 16 goals in their first three games, got their first points of the season thanks to a 1-0 win over Queen’s Royal College with St Augustine Secondary edging St Anthony’s College by a similar score to open their 2024 account as well.
Aaron Clement was the goal scorer for Miracle Ministries Pentecostal while Elijah Baptiste was on the score sheet for St. Augustine Secondary.
Finally, Trinity College East also got their first points of the season as first-half goals from Khaleem Prince and Xavier Maricheau earned them a 2-1 win over east giants San Juan North Secondary.
St. Benedict’s currently lead the standings with 10 points while Arima North Secondary (8), Malick Secondary (8), Fatima College (7) and Naparima College (7) round out the top five.
Fatima College maintained their dominance at the top of the Secondary Schools' Football League (SSFL) premiership division with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bishop's High School on Saturday.
Michael Chaves scored a late brace to seal the win for Fatima, who now have 31 points from 12 matches.
Meanwhile, San Juan North dropped points for the third week running as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Malick Secondary at Bourg Mulatresse. This slip-up saw them drop from second to third in the standings.
Defending champions St Benedict's College capitalized on San Juan North's misfortune, moving into second place with a 4-2 win over Queen's Royal College.
The most entertaining match of the weekend came from Trinity College Grounds in Moka, where East Mucurapo and Pleasantville played out a thrilling 13-goal encounter. East Mucurapo emerged victorious, winning 8-5.
In other matches, Naparima College dropped points for a third consecutive match, drawing 2-2 with Speyside away in Tobago.
Trinity East beat St Anthony's College to round out the weekend's fixtures.
The SSFL premiership division is now heating up, with the top four teams separated by just five points. The battle for the title is sure to be intense in the coming weeks.
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