Nathan Quashie continued to win over the hearts of his new school, San Juan North Secondary, by netting another decisive item in their 2-1 win over visitors Trinity College East to move top of the 16-team Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Boys' Premier Division, on Wednesday.
With previous leader and unbeaten team Fatima College suffering a 1-0 loss at its Mucurapo Road home venue to former champions Presentation College of San Fernando to end its runs at six matches, the Jerry Moe-coached San Juan North now leads the table with 18 points from seven matches after rebounding from a 5-2 home loss to Fatima, with the latter now second on 16 points.
At the San Juan North Secondary ground in Bourg Mulatresse, Jaheem Danclair rediscovered his scoring touch by netting San Juan North's opener, his fifth goal of the season.
However, Trinity East, coming off its first win of the season, 2-1 over Malick Secondary would even things up before the half-time whistle thanks to Jonathan Emrith, his first of the season.
But in an evenly-matched second half, Quashie, who transferred from Queen's Royal College (QRC) prior to the start of the season netted the decisive item in the 63rd with his seventh item of the campaign to secure all three points.
Down at Mucurapo Road, Fatima's brief stint at the top of the standings ended after one round after a second-half goal from Levi Jones proved decisive for Presentation with the latter improving to 14 points in fourth spot, one behind four-time league winner Naparima College, who was handed a second straight loss after starting the season with five straights wins, in a 3-2 loss to defending champion, St Benedict's College who trailed 2-0 early on.
At Lewis Street, San Fernando, Naparima went ahead in the 25th minute when defender Josiah Cooper's downward header at the far post from a Jkwon Bailey free-kick beat goalkeeper Thane Devenish.
Eight minutes later, the prolific Kanye Francis latched onto a loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box to fire past Devenish on his near post for a 2-0 advantage for the host.
But two minutes before the interval, St Benedict's boosted their chances of a second-half comeback when Jeremiah Niles slammed home a right-sided centre from Malacai Webb past goalkeeper Tyrece Romain.
Both teams created a few chances on the resumption, but it was the visitors who took theirs with a free-kick from Keanu Morean glancing off the head of Naparima's Tevin Pantor which eluded his own goalkeeper Romain into the far corner to tie up the score at 2-2 in the 68th.
In the 76th minute, some sloppy defending by substitute Antonio Hill, who failed to clear a long ball from Anthony Williams, saw the ball dropping at the feet of Webb, who fired into the net on the second attempt after his first shot on target was blocked by Romain.
The win, the second on the trot for the 'La Romain Lions', the defending SSFL Premier Division champions extended their unbeaten run to five matches after starting the season with two straight defeats to move to 11 points in the 11th spot, one point behind the trio of St Anthony's College, Arima North Secondary, and St Mary's College who were all in winners row, while Speyside Secondary is fifth with 13 points.
In the other matches, Speyside battled past visitor East Mucurapo 2-1; St Anthony's crushed Pleasantville Secondary 6-1; Arima North edged Malick Secondary 2-1, QRC punished Chaguanas North 6-0, and St Mary's overcame host Bishop's High, 3-2.
Wednesday's results
St Mary's 3 (Ryan Radellant 2, Elijah Wong) vs Bishop's High 2 (Malik Wilson 2)
Presentation 1 (Levi Jones 63rd) vs Fatima College 0
Arima North 2 (Tyrelle Stapleton 19th. Tyler Ayers 45th) vs Malick 1 (Keston Richards 89th)
St Benedict's College 3 (Jeremiah Niles 43rd, Keanu Morean 68th, Malacai Webb 76th ) vs Naparima 2 (Josiah Cooper 25th, Kanye Francis 33rd)
QRC 6 (Tau Lamsee 2, Tehsaun Franklyn, Stephon James, Kerry Baptiste Jr, Mussadiq Mohammed) vs Chaguanas North 0
San Juan North 2 (Jaheem Danclair, Nathan Quashie) vs Trinity East 1 (Jonathan Emrith)
Speyside 2 (Omar Daniel 25th, Riquelmen Phillips 87th) vs East Mucurapo 1 (Jaden Mc Shine 90+4)
St Anthony's 6 (Mordecai Ford 2, Jean-Marc Thomas, Theo Cravador, Russel Francois, Andell Fraser) vs Pleasantville 1 (Kelon Williams)
Current standings
Position*Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1*San Juan North*7*6*0*1*18*10*18
2*Fatima*7*5*1*1*23*3*16
3*Naparima*7*5*0*2*34*6*15
4*Presentation*7*4*2*1*10*3*14
5*Speyside*7*4*1*2*12*8*13
6*St Anthony’s*7*4*0*3*21*12*12
7*Arima North*7*3*3*1*13*5*12
8*St Mary’s*7*4*0*3*21*21*12
9*St Benedict’s*7*3*2*2*11*8*11
10*QRC*7*3*0*4*13*10*9
11*East Mucurapo*7*3*0*4*9*18*9
12*Malick*7*2*0*5*16*11*6
13*Trinity East*6*1*2*3*7*9*5
14*Bishop’s High*6*1*0*5*4*14*3
15*Chaguanas North*7*1*0*6*2*42*3
16*Pleasantville*7*0*1*6*4*38*1
SSFL Premier Division top scorers:
8 - Kyle Phillip (St Mary's), Ryan Radellant (St Mary's)
7 - Kanye Francis (Naparima), Nathan Quashie (San Juan North)
5 - Jonathan Mason, Aidan De Gannes, Michael Chaves (Fatima), Jaheem Danclair (San Juan North), Andell Fraser (St Anthony's), Stephon James (QRC)
4 - Akiel Vesprey (Naparima), Lindell Sween (San Juan North), Clint Latchman (East Mucurapo), Vaughn Clement (Presentation), Kelon Williams (Pleasantville), Tyrell Stapleton (Arima North), Theo Cravador (St Anthony's)
3 - Oba Samuel (Malick), N’kosi Quahsie (Speyside), Lindell Sween (San Juan North), Jonathan Mason (Fatima), Jean-Marc Thomas, Aalon Wilson-Wright, Mordecai Ford (St Anthony's), Jaron Pascall, Tevin Pantor (Naparima), Adah Barclay (Presentation), Elijah Wong (St Mary's), Tau Lamsee
2 - Justin Alcantar, Christian Bailey (Fatima), Ronaldinho Richards, J’Lon Matthews, Jordan Ferdinand, Keston Richards (Malick), Kevin Francois, Jabari Forbes, Jkwon Bailey, Xarion France, Josiah Cooper, Nathaniel O'Garro (Naparima), Darion Marfan, Jemaul Ashing (Arima North), Jaden Grant, Daniel Jones, Malacai Webb (St Benedict’s), Micah Nelson (QRC), (St Anthony's), Lenox Eastman, Omar Daniel, Riquelme Phillip (Speyside), Malik Wilson (Bishop's High), Jaden Mc Shine (East Mucurapo)
1 - Nekayse Moore, Negaste Moore (Chaguanas North), Abeyomi George (Presentation), Teshaun Franklyn, Kerry Baptiste Jr, Mussadiq Mohammed (QRC), Jeremiah Niles, Keanu Morean, Derrel Garcia, Ethan Trotman, Josiah Ochoa (St Bendict’s), Thomas Decle, Kade Collier, Jaden Williams (Fatima), Malachi Woodley, Ackeem James, Isaiah David, Zachary Joseph, Tyrese Manswell (Malick), Tyrel Rajoon, Aaron Raymond, Israel Joseph, (Naparima), Daniel Rose, Obadiah Eyeadelrosiyhia, Russel Francois (St Anthony’s), Omar Daniel, Shyon George, N'Kosi Quashie, Riquelme Phillips (Speyside), Tyler Ayers, Theron O’Brien, Ability Hazel, Tony Figuera, Stephano Christopher (Arima North), Alejandro Harper, Abdil-Junior Abdul-Hakeem (St Mary’s), Jadiel Joseph, Joshua Lewis (San Juan North), Kadeem Plaza, Khaleem Prince, Hasheem Hill, Seretse Browne, Jeremiah Frank-Williams, Josiah Figaro, Jonathan Emrith (Trinity East), Damario Henry, Khaieem Lewis (Bishop’s High), Malachi Henry, Malik Xavier, Jemon Gulston (East Mucurapo), Levi Jones (Presentation)
Own goal : 6.
ABOVE SOURCE: T&T Guardian
San Juan North rise to top of SSFL, Fatima, Naps lose.
By Jonathan Ramnanansingh (T&T Newsday).
THE top two teams on the Secondary Schools’ Football League (SSFL) premiership table were unseated after round seven matches on Wednesday as both Fatima College and Naparima College suffered losses, while San Juan North climbed into pole position following a 2-1 victory over Trinity College East.
Fatima (16pts), who led the standings before kickoff, were downed 1-0 by visitors Presentation College San Fernando, courtesy of a 63rd-minute Levi Jones strike.
At Lewis Street Grounds in San Fernando, defending SSFL premiership champions and tenth-placed St Benedict’s College, rallied back from a two-goal deficit to shut out second-ranked “Naps” 3-2.
After a stop-start opening few minutes, Naps went ahead in the 25th via Josiah Cooper, who headed past La Romaine Lions’ custodian Thane Devenish, to send them 1-0 up.
Five minutes later, St Benedict’s had a chance to equalise but midfielder Josiah Ochoa shot overbar.
They were punished for the missed opportunity soon after as Naps’ forward Kanye Francis’s first touch beat his defender and allowed him to turn his body and rifle a right-footed shot into the left corner, to double their lead.
However, St Benedict’s halved their deficit just before the break as Jeremiah Niles latched on to a free ball at the back post and shot past Naparima goalkeeper Tyrese Romain.
It remained 2-1 at half-time. At the resumption, St Benedict’s showed more intent as Malacai Webb and Keanu Morean continued to threaten Naps’ slim advantage.
In the 66th, the 2022 winners thought they found the equalizer when Morean pounced on a mishandled ball by Romain, and scored. However, it was ruled offside, but these near misses ignited confidence. Two minutes later, they were rewarded for their efforts, this time from a free kick. Morean’s goal-bound shot might have been saved by Romain but a slight touch of the ball in the wall shifted its trajectory a bit and beat Naps’ custodian to level the score.
From then on, Naps never looked the part and St Benedict’s continued to press for a winner. A long ball from Anthony Williams was not properly cleared by Naparima’s back line, and it fell to Webb’s feet, who shot straight to Romain.
Romain was unable to gather the ball properly and a persistent Webb pounced on the loose ball and found the back of the net. The match-winning goal silenced the home fans but the visitors erupted.
Now on the back foot, Naps tried to claw back into it but their southern counterparts would not have it. The result meant that San Juan North moved into first position with 18pts while Fatima (16pts) and Naps (15pts) round off the top three.
Pres’ victory also saw them maintain fourth (14pts) position ahead of Saturday’s “South Clasico” against rivals Naps.
In other matches, Speyside (13pts) also held on to fifth position with a 2-1 victory over East Mucurapo. The Tobago team opened the scoring in the 35th minute from Omar Daniel and added another in the 87th, courtesy of Riquelme Phillips. But, East Mucurapo pulled one back in the 94th via Jadon McShine.
Arima North kept their sixth place with a 2-1 triumph against Malick Secondary.
St Anthony’s drubbed cellar-placed Pleasantville 6-1, St Mary’s squeezed past Bishop’s Tobago 3-2 while QRC thumped Chaguanas North 6-0.
Round eight kicks off on Saturday.
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