SHAWN Cooper, coach of Presentation College San Fernando, believes their race for the Secondary Schools’ Football League (SSFL) premiership division title is over.
Cooper made these remarks following his team’s 0-0 draw against crosstown rivals Naparima College in round 11 action on Wednesday.
However, “Pres” had the best chance to find the back of the net in the first half, but striker Duhrell Young fired his penalty over the bar.
The result saw “Pres” slip from fifth to sixth, on 21 points, with five matches remaining.
When asked in the post-match interview on the possibility of his team making a late comeback and contending for the title, Cooper thinks the league will be decided between the table’s top two teams, Fatima College (28pts) and San Juan North Secondary (25pts).
“Well I think after we spilled the penalty, it was even-steven,” he said.
On their of being title contenders, Cooper added, “No I don’t think so. It’s an easy street going forward with Fatima and San Juan North. I don’t think they have any games in hand to trouble them. So it’s their league to lose. This game was a derby so we expected a close one.”
Naparima though, are third (23 pts). Coach Travis Mulraine, in his post-match comments still believes his team has a fighting chance to potentially put their hands on this year’s silverware.
“Besides the missed penalty, it was a very even game; a lot of ebbs and flows. I think it was an epic battle fitting of a Naps/Pres derby.
“We have to look forward. We can’t do anything about this game and just hope to win the rest of our games and hope results go our way.”
“Naps” failed to score in their past two matches, against San Juan North and Pres. Mulraine praised his defensive back-line but wants more from his strikers and attacking midfielders.
On the two-game goal drought, he added, “It is a concern because we were scoring goals and conceding. We worked a bit defensively, now we’re getting the clean sheets, but we’re not converting up front. So we just have to keep working on the training field.”
Also staying within contention in fourth place are defending SSFL premier champions St Benedict’s (23pts) and fifth-ranked St Anthony’s College (22pts).
Matches continue on Saturday.
SOURCE: T&T Newsday
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