The sounds of the St Mary’s College rhythm section rang out loudly on Wednesday (October 28) from their Serpentine Road, St Clair field, not only in recognition of their triumph over St Benedict’s College 2-0 in the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT) Boys Premiership Division of the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL), but also to start the countdown to their possible title with four rounds of matches still to be played.
Still unbeaten in the League, ‘The Saints’, as they are called, moved to 33 points, but have to keep an eye open for Signal Hill Secondary, who kept on the heels with a similar 2-0 shut-out of Arima North Secondary at the Bertille St Clair Ground in Tobago that pushed them to 31 points.
Naparima College, the defending champion, also kept themselves in the race by firing three goals past Queen’s Royal College in the 3-0 triumph at Lewis Street in San Fernando. At Serpentine Road, the sounds reached expected crescendo from as early as the eighth minute.
The visitors fumbled to get clear a ball that bounced awkwardly in the St Benedict’s goal area, only for Nadeem Grant to unleash a tame shot that was deflected past goalkeeper Naftali Charles by the outstretched boot of Josiah Thompson.
The goal was the only thing that separated the teams at the half-time interval, after they traded punches in the moments following the goal.
But with the Saints enjoying the position of ascendancy at the end of the first half, they somehow allowed the visitors to settle with a series of patient build-up that could have led to the equaliser. A combination between Oronde Parris and Kanye Glasgow down the left side came close to the equaliser in the 50th minute. Glasgow, given space on top of the box, could not control his shot, as it sailed aimlessly away from the goal.
The Saints, spurred on by their cheering fans, intensified their attacks at goal with a driving force down the centre where Tyler Jalen Hislop became the target positioned on top of the St Benedict’s box. The latter, sighting the goalkeeper napping in the goal, struck a left-footer that sailed just over the crossbar in the 60th minute.
Three minutes later, the visitors could do nothing when Jaedon Thomas rose high to head home a left-sided corner to push the advantage to 2-0.
The goal placed a damper on St Benedict’s fightback, with dropped heads summarising their fate. Still, they mustered a last fight down the right flank, through the pair of Jaden Duncan and Glasgow that took them into the CIC penalty area, but Duncan’s shot was gobbled up by goalkeeper Josiah Superville.
Still with lights fading, the visitors mounted a last-ditch attack that should have brought them a goal. This time, Superville timidly went out for a left-side cross in his goal area, only to miss the ball completely. However, fortune followed him as Glasgow, with the goal wide open, headed it wide of the post.
The result means they remained on 25 points while the Saints continued to march on.
Yesterday's results
St Mary's 2 (Josiah Thompson 8th, Jaedon Thomas 63rd) vs St Benedict’s 0
Mucurapo West 2 (Amenhotep Harper 3rd, Nazim Skinner 21st) vs Trinity East 0
Naparima 3 (Adasa Richardson 27th, Jabari Rodriguez 33rd, Immanuel Wright 73rd) vs Queen's Royal College 0
Hillview 3 (Kemarley Pierre 2nd, Jaylen Hinds 38th, 65th) vs San Juan North 0
St Anthony’s 3 (Malachi Neaves 1st, Darion Alzola 75th, Giovanni Bartholomew 38th) vs St Augustine 0
Signal Hill 2 (J’meke Watkins 33rd, Jediael Marcelle 48th) vs Arima North 0
Presentation 2 (Oshea Wartson 36th, Joshua Ryce 70th) vs Malick 1 (Keisean Spence 9th)
Speyside 2 (Justin Barnard 2nd, Jeremiah Wickham 72nd) vs Trinity Moka 1 (Jashon Forde 89th)
Latest Standing
Pos*Teams*P*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Pts
1. St Mary’s*13*10*3*0*32*8*24*33
2. Signal Hill*13*10*1*2*31*12*19*31
3. Naparima*12*9*1*2*36*10*26*28
4. St Benedict’s*14*7*4*3*29*13*16*25
5. Fatima*12*7*4*1*36*16*20*25
6. Presentation*12*7*3*2*26*12*14*24
7. Hillview*12*6*2*4*36*22*14*20
8. Arima North*12*6*0*6*26*26*0*18
9. Speyside*13*5*1*7*19*35*-16*16
10. St Anthony’s*12*4*3*5*21*23*-2*15
11. Malick*12*4*1*7*28*31*-3*13
12. QRC*12*3*3*6*13*18*-5*12
13. San Juan North*12*3*0*9*15*28*-13*9
14. Mucurapo West*13*2*2*9*14*33*-19*8
15. St Augustine*12*2*2*8*17*39*-22*8
16. Trinity Moka*12*2*2*8*21*44*-23*8
17. Trinity East*13*1*2*10*14*46*-32*5
