The "Green Hornets" from Princes Town stung the "La Romaine Lions" of St Benedict's once, twice at Skinner Park yesterday evening to make the Championship Division battle in the South Zone of the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League a virtual two-team contest with two games to play.
Naparima College kept their tenuous one-point grip on the lead with a stumbling 1-0 win over Fyzabad Composite in the first match of a double-header.
It was a poor contest overall-aimless and uninspiring. But "Naps" got the job done through Kezi Lara's side-foot volley following a floated free-kick four minutes into the second half. There was a suspicion of offside about the move leading to the goal.
But Lara, having served his suspension following his second sending off this season against Princes Town, and coming on as a second half substitute, showed again his value to the defending champions.
The Naps' win put greater pressure on second-placed Princes Town Senior Comprehensive and third-placed St Benedict's College. Separated only by goal difference, neither could afford to drop a point yesterday.
Princes Town ensured they did not with two second half strikes.
A game a tardy electrician almost forced to be abandoned at half-time because of inactivated floodlights was won by P.Town through more sustained pressure on their opponents, some timely stops by goalkeeper Renwick Rondell and the nippy wing work of Kemo Narcis.
The second half only began goalless because of a goalline clearance from Benedict's defender Mark Ince after alert Ronald Whisky had intercepted a free-kick on the left edge of the six-metre box and, with goalkeeper Jeremy Tenia out of position, fired goalwards.
It was a competitive first half, but diminutive Narcis always gave P.Town an attacking option on the left wing.
In the second half, he would do more than that.
First, however, his teammate Anton St Martin gave P.Town the lead just about 12 minutes after the belated resumption. His fairly tame shot surprisingly got past Tenia, who failed to deal with an awkward bounce.
The goal came slightly against the run of play at that point. And Narcis, turning in the penalty area after collecting a right side free-kick and firing into the roof of the net, near side, just six minutes later, then took the game completely away from Benedict's.
Later, Rondell made an important double-save, parrying a shot and then turning away a follow-up header to make sure the "Lions" would not get their claws back into the contest.
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