Akini James' 89th minute close range effort kept title hopeful Mason Hall alive, while denting reigning champion Scarborough's chances as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the Tobago Zone of the BGTT/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League, yesterday.
The all-important goal put Mason Hall on ten points with two matches remaining, and five points less than Scarborough, which has just one remaining. The champions' objective was to win the match outright and secure another crown. However, it was Mason Hall, led by captain Brandon Joseph which started the brighter of the two teams.
Scarborough eventually got going with right-winger Khislon Morgan and striker Michael Gordon attacking Mason Hall's goal. Gordon was rewarded in the 20th minute as he outpaced Mason Hall's defence and scored a simple tap in.
Hakeem Legalle missed several attempts to equalise and Mason Hall eventually found the back of the net in the last minute of regulation time in a goalmouth scramble as James got his foot to the ball.
Mason Hall will take on Scarborough in a rescheduled match and a potential title decider on Saturday. A win for Mason Hall will see it trail Scarborough by two points, before Mason Hall faces Roxborough in its final league match on Tuesday.
With all zonal champions already decided, the divisions played out their final rounds of matches, with only South and Tobago zones having a rescheduled match to complete. Down South, Presentation College continued to impress as it completed the league campaign with another victory, making it 12 wins in as many matches.
The team's leading scorer Shackiel Henry scored yet again. Civaughn Dimsoy bagged a double while Kegan Ellis was the other player on target. All relegated teams have also been determined with the exception of the North Zone.
Trinity College faces relegation after falling to Fatima College 3-1. Diego Martin North Secondary had to pull off the upset of the round and did just that with a 1-0 victory over East Mucurapo. Stephon Billingy got the goal for Diego Martin, which may well have been the most important of his career thus far.
Results
North
QRC 1 (Og) v St Mary's 1 (Rashaad Hyacinth)
D/Martin North 1 (Stephon Billingy) v East Mucurapo 0
Fatima 3 (Jameel Young, Arvin Prescod, Brendon Creed) v Trinity 1 (Christon Gaspard)
East
Trinity East 4 (Marcelle Springer 2, Shaquille Antoine, Nathan Regis) vs Toco 2 (Kern Cabalerro pen, Franklyn Romain)
Arima North 4 (Neveal Hackshaw 8th, Shilo Johnsonn 27th, Keon Joseph 74th, Kern Roberts 80th) vs El Do East 1 (Mikail Primus)
El Do West 1 (Kurdell Chairman) vs San Juan North 0
Central
Carapichaima East 2 (Marvin Martin 26th, Keon Brown 86th) vs Couva West 1 (Jaffet Williams 67th)
Presentation 3 vs Gasparillo 0 - by default
Chaguanas North 6 (Deon O'Garro 15th, 38th, 62nd, Jerren Hall 87th, 90th, Jonathon Charles 77th ) vs Tabaquite 2 (Chazaq Arnold 60th, Keagan Moonessar 83rd)
South
Princes Town 6 (Anderson Toussaint 68th, 71st, 88th, Kyle Symms 75th, 90th, Quacy Cooper 80th) v Moruga 1 (Joshua Joseph 10th)
St Benedict's 1 v Shiva 1 (Anderson Cornwall pen)
Presentation 4 (Kegan Ellis, Shackiel Henry, Civaughn Dimsoy 2) v Pleasantville 0
Tobago
Signal Hill 2 (Alain Charles 35th, 71st) vs Roxborough 1 (Kyle George 80th)
Scarborough 1 (Michael Gordon 20th) vs Mason Hall 1 (Akini James 89th)
Rescheduled
matches
Saturday
Venue: Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet
Speyside vs Roxborough, 4 pm
Mason Hall vs Scarborough, 6 pm
Tuesday October 30
Roxborough vs Mason Hall, Settlement Grd.