SSFL 24: Phillip bags double but St Mary’s held 2-2 by Signal Hill

St Mary’s College skipper Kyle Phillip notched a double against Signal Hill Secondary at Serpentine Road in St Clair today, although it was not enough to give the home team all three points—as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw with their Tobagonian guests.

The outing marked a debut for coach Cornell Glen who replaced veteran Michael Grayson at the helm of the “Saints” on Thursday, a day after the school got their first points of the 2024 SSFL Premier Division season with a 2-1 win over Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School.

It was Signal Hill who started stronger though. Khaleem Trim gave Signal Hill a fourth minute lead when his long-range right-footed drive got a slight deflection to fly past the left of St Mary’s goalkeeper Josiah Superville.

However, Phillip levelled the scores in the 31st minute as he raced on to a through pass from the back and guided a low left-footed shot past the out-of-position Signal Hill keeper Rondell Marcelle.

And, in the 47th minute, the Saints skipper doubled up from the penalty spot, after referee Charlize Hood belatedly blew for a hand-ball infringement.

Signal Hill were not done though, as they fought back to equalise through Anthony Hopkins—whose left-footed shot which sailed past the outstretched Superville and into the back of the net in the 57th minute.

Elsewhere, St Benedict’s College (10 points) moved to the top of the standings with a 1-0 win over southern rivals Naparima College after overnight leaders Arima North Secondary and Malick Secondary battled to a 1-1 draw at the Arima Velodrome.

And, at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, defending champions Fatima College got the better of Presentation College (San Fernando) for the second time this season—after their 2-1 win in the NGC SSFL Super Cup.

Fatima, who are still unbeaten this season, can leapfrog to first place on Monday evening when they face St Augustine Secondary at Warren Street.

The focus in the build-up to today’s round of match was almost certainly St Mary’s change in tactician, as the outgoing Grayson opted not to leave quietly.

Glen did not have much time to familiarise himself with his new squad before kickoff. And there was an early setback too, as Trim fired home from distance after collecting a pass from fellow midfielder Jaden Richardson.

It took a little while before the Saints made an impact in the match but it was worth the wait.

Superville rolled the ball to his left-back Jaylon Roberts whose long low pass dovetailed perfectly with Phillip’s run behind the defence. And the St Mary’s #10 rolled his left-footed shot past the stranded opposing goalie Marcelle.

St Mary’s could have gone 2-1 up at halftime but midfielder Alejandro Harper sent his right-footed half-volley overbar, after a poor clearance from Signal Hill defender Devonte St Hillaire.

But they did eventually get the chance to go ahead, as referee Hood signalled for a penalty, approximately 10 seconds after Jelani Ottley’s shot struck the left hand of Signal Hill defender Nickel Williams.

The visitors did not hold back their displeasure. But Phillip kept his composure to bury his spotkick to Marcelle’s right.

Jermaine Morgan narrowly missed the target from a free kick in the 55th minute. However, two minutes later, Hopkins got the equaliser with a left-footed shot—after evading a challenge from Roberts, at the edge of the penalty box.

Phillip thought he had completed his hat-trick five minutes later but his “goal” was disallowed for offside, while Signal Hill forward Kyle James’ deflected freekick missed the St Mary’s goal by a matter of inches.

It meant both teams had to settle for a point each.

Glen said he was impressed by his squad’s resilience.

“They didn’t budge, they didn’t hang their heads,” said Glen. “They [kept] going and we got a point. Signal Hill are a difficult team and it was a good test for us.”

The former Club Sando coach stated that his immediate plan is to work on the team’s defensive structure.

“This is the game to see most of the players that we have,” he said. “It’s just to stop the leaking defensively and get the shape right when we’re on defence because we have a lot of talented guys when we’re on attack, and we can get goals.”

Signal Hill coach Downie Marcelle felt his players were unlucky not to get a win in St Clair.

“I think we could have controlled it more [with] a bit of calmness in front of goal,” said Marcelle, who also credited his team’s character. “I think we had numerous chances to score but today Lady Luck decided not to shine on us.

“We are still grateful for the one point but as a coach, knowing the opponents St Mary’s were not at their best with a change of coach, [we hoped to do better].

“We expected a bit of fight from them. When a team has a new coach, the team tends to have a tendency to perform for [him]. I am thankful for the draw and I’ll move on from there.”

Teams

St Mary’s College (4-5-1): 88. Josiah Superville (GK); 19.Isaiah Morris, 6.Darius Humphrey, 23.Joshua Chalerie, 5.Jaylon Roberts; 14.Elijah Wong, 8.Alejandro Harper (2.Ihsan Miller 76), 4.Kristian James, 21.Jelani Ottley (17.El Valdo Garcia 79), 11.Nadeem Grant (7.Jaylon Manswell 69); 10.Kyle Phillip (captain).

Unused substitutes: 1.Estefan Gift (GK), 9.Derron Blackman, 12.Isaiah Edwards, 16.Jalen Hislop, 22.Yohance Solomon.

Coach: Cornell Glen

Signal Hill Secondary (4-3-3): 1.Rondell Marcelle (GK); 3.Nickel Williams, 4.Devonte St Hillaire, 13.Kerron Arthur, 5.Mario Periera (12.Immanual Wright 88); 10.Jermaine Morgan (30.Malik Wilson 79), 15.Khaleem Trim (8.Raevion Marshall 79), 6.Jaden Richardson (captain); 11.Antonio Hopkins (21.Siel Mills 82), 9.Kyle James, 19.Israel Trim (7.J’Meke Watkins 46).

Unused substitutes: 25.Kaleb Romeo (GK), 2.Jaquon De Four, 14.Kyen Anderson, 18.Jahmiah Gibbes, 20.Daveon Maxime, 23.Jaden Marcelle, 24.Kisean Grant.

Coach: Downie Marcelle

Referee: Charlize Hood

Premier Division results

(Sat 21 Sep)

St Mary’s College 2 (Kyle Phillip 31, 47 pen), Signal Hill Secondary 2 (Khaleem Trim 4, Antonio Hopkins 59) at Serpentine Road;

St Augustine Secondary 1 (Elijah Baptiste 67), St Anthony’s College 0 at Warren Street;

Miracle Ministries PHS 1 (Aaron Clement 67), Queen’s Royal College 0 at Edinburgh 500;

Presentation (San F’do) 0, Fatima College 2 (Levi Smith, Michael Chaves) at Mannie Ramjohn Stadium;

St Benedict’s College 1 (Josiah Ochoa 24), Naparima College 0 at Mahaica Sporting Complex;

Trinity College East 2 (Khaleem Prince 7, Xavier Maricheau 19), San Juan North 1 (Juhrell Ignatius OG 62) at Trincity;

Arima North Secondary 1 (Micha’el John 54), Malick Secondary 1 (Josante Duncan 28) at Arima Velodrome.

Upcoming fixtures

(Mon 23 Sep)

St Augustine Secondary v Fatima College, 4pm, Warren Street;

(Wed 25 Sep)

Queen’s Royal College v St Mary’s College, 4pm, QRC;

Fatima College v San Juan North, 4pm, Mucurapo Road;

Malick Secondary v Trinity College East, 4pm, Serpentine Road;

Miracle Ministries PHS v East Mucurapo Secondary, 4pm, Edinburgh 500;

Signal Hill Secondary v Presentation (San F’do), 4pm, Signal Hill;

Speyside High v St Augustine Secondary, 4pm, Speyside;

St Anthony’s College v St Benedict’s College, 4pm, Westmoorings;

Naparima College v Arima North Secondary, 4pm, Lewis Street.