SSFL 25: Eve celebrates ‘statement win’ as ‘Naps’ down Signal Hill 2-1 to end three-year title drought

“[In] my job as a coach, you are judged by results,” said Naparima College coach Angus Eve. “I came back here, and I wanted to make a statement.”

Eve has kept his distance from the media for the 2025 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season so far. But, this afternoon, he decided to end his stand-off after an emotional afternoon for coach and charges at Lewis Street, San Fernando.

In a must-win Premier Division affair in south Trinidad, Naparima College held their nerve to hold off Signal Hill Secondary 2-1 in the final league match day of the season for both teams.

And, as a result, Naparima are schoolboy champions of Trinidad and Tobago for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. (Notwithstanding a letter of inquiry by St Benedict’s College related to the registration of two Naparima College players, Jaydon Caprietta and Jacob O’Reilly.)

Or, to put it another way, “Naps” last won the Premier title in 2019 under Eve. As Eve moved on to lead the Soca Warriors, the southern juggernauts went three seasons without the crown.

Then, in Eve’s first year back, they are champions again. If that is not enough to give your own trumpet a toot, then what is?

“We have had good coaches here before me,” said Eve. “People like Travis Mulraine, Anthony Sherwood, Reynold Carrington—all good coaches.

“But sometimes you have to know the culture of the place. Sometimes, if you don’t know the culture of the place, you may not perform to the optimum in the environment.”

It would take some doing to top that comeback story.

At kickoff, the number one and number two SSFL teams in the country squared off against each other—the Trinidad champions against the best of Tobago.

But for the first half hour of the contest, there was little sign of championship mettle from the “Sister Isle”. Well, unless you’re referring to Naparima forward Riquelme Phillips.

Strong, mobile and skilful, Phillips—who transferred from Speyside Secondary this term—was unstoppable for much of the first half, and there was little surprise that he was involved in both of the host team’s goals.

In the sixth minute, full back Sebastian James and Caprietta combined down the left flank and, when Signal Hill defender Raevion Marshall failed to properly clear James’ cross, Phillips made him pay with a left-footed strike across the body of opposing goalkeeper Kaleb Romeo and into the far corner.

Naparima’s second item came off a free kick won by Phillips, about 25 yards from the opposing goal.

Caprietta, Arron Raymond and Jabari Rodriguez stood over the ball and, in retrospect, captain Jerrel Cooper’s motion to the trio—as he pumped his hands, palms facing the ground, in the ‘calm down’ gesture—suggested they had something up their sleeves.

Cooper wanted his teammates to take their time on this one. Soon, everyone knew why.

First, Caprietta ran over the ball to his left and scuttled into the channel to the right of the Signal Hill wall. Raymond ran over the ball to the other side of the defensive wall.

Rodriguez ran up to the ball next and, instead of taking a shot, slid a pass into the wide-open Caprietta. Caprietta whipped in a low cross behind the Signal Hill wall, and there was James waiting to hit home their second goal.

It was a clever and flawlessly executed set piece.

“We worked on that yesterday,” said Eve. “To see it work, and it worked a treat… from straight off the training ground to the pitch.

“You like to see that as a coach.”

There were only 24 minutes on the clock when Signal Hill coach Downie Marcelle turned to his substitutes’ bench for the first time, as he replaced left back Daishawn Bradshaw and midfielder Khaleem Trim with Kyen Anderson and Jediael Marcelle, respectively.

But it was not until the 40^th minute that the Tobagonians managed three successive completed passes.

Until then, they had been sucked into Naparima’s high-octane game of fast transitions through Caprietta or James down the left or booming switched balls from defender Antonio Hills to Raymond on the right flank.

Once “Naps” got into enemy territory, they could rely on Phillips to hold up the ball for his teammates to get forward or simply take on the opposing backline by himself.

Meanwhile, Signal Hill found little space to operate in midfield while their inverted wingers kept running into traffic.

“We were prepared,” said Eve. “They had so [many] games [when we did not have] to play a league match, so we […] looked at their players and their strengths and weaknesses.

“You see [Immanual] Wright didn’t really get into the game today. He likes to cut inside. And [Jermaine] Morgan in the midfield, we got tight on him.

“These are the little things we would have done because we saw the footage of their last four matches.”

Marcelle (D) said today’s affair was heart-wrenching for his team, who were eager to make history as the first Tobago team and the first secondary school to win the Premier Division title.

“We came here to spoil the party today, but we reached late for the party,” he said, in reference to his team’s slow start. “The boys were a bit nervous today. It was the biggest game of their entire careers so far, so you can understand that the moment got to them a little bit.

“We grew into the game eventually. But, against Naparima, to be 2-0 down in the first [20] minutes is always going to be a difficult task.”

Phillips should have put Naparima three goals clear in the 26^th minute but could not keep his header down from a Raymond cross.

And, in the closing minutes of the first half, Signal Hill finally started to show signs of life—with forward Kyle James and Morgan getting peeks at the opposing goal.

In the 65^th minute, Signal Hill, now in the ascendancy, gave Naparima their first genuine scare as Wright smashed a free kick off the underside of goalkeeper Mikhael Clement’s cross bar.

There were only seven minutes left when the visitors finally got on the score summary, though.

It was a goal out of nothing. The Naparima defence failed to deal with a long ball down the centre of the field, which James chased. And right back Camron Bovell, on the wrong side of the attacker, stuck his boot out in a lazy nibble at the ball.

It was a gift of a penalty, but the correct call by referee Andrew Samuel. And Marshall’s spotkick flew through the roof of the net to halve Signal Hill’s deficit.

There were some nervous moments after that. But, in truth, Signal Hill resorted to simply pumping long balls at the opposing defence and praying for an error. And Eve backed his boys to withstand the unsophisticated barrage from the visitors.

Only Fatima College (49 goals) have scored more than Signal Hill’s 48 Premier Division goals this season, but they had no answer for Naparima today.

“[Naparima] were faster to the ball,” said Marcelle (D). “Angus Eve is a really organised coach, who can sit deep and play on the counter attack [and] we didn’t play fast enough to break their lines.

“Our boys really tried their best, and we eventually got a goal back—but it was Naparima’s day and Naparima’s title to win. Congratulations to them.

“[…] Maybe we will meet them in the Intercol, you never know. That could be round two.”

Promoted in 2023, Signal Hill played their role in an exciting finale in 2025. Marcelle (D) said the season was “an eye-opener” for him and hopefully an encouragement for other government secondary schools across the two islands.

“If nobody ever believed a team from Tobago could win the Premiership,” he said, “this season showed that if we do all the right things that are necessary: the support from the parents, the school, the teachers, the principal, and the players are committed to the task, it is possible—for all secondary schools across Trinidad and Tobago.

“But again, another college wins. Secondary schools are still waiting to win [the Premier Division].

“Hats off to Naparima. But with the right work, next year we will give this a shot again. I am sure about that.”

Eve, for his part, said his triumphant return was not as straightforward as it might appear. For starters, he said it was challenging to be mentally ready for the competition after almost six years away.

“There were a lot of adjustments for me,” he said. “People feel it is easy, but there were a lot of good teams in the league—a lot of well-organised teams.

“[…] Four teams were fighting for the title up to the last day.”

SSFL president Merere Gonzales was not at Lewis Street with the Premier Division trophy today. And, almost certainly, the Credentials Committee will have some work to do—with regard to St Benedict’s complaints—before any announcement is made.

If Naparima are found to have improperly registered Caprietta and O’Reilly, the loss of the 2025 title would be the least of their worries. They could also be relegated.

But school officials said they are confident that they would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Eve made it clear that his role at Naparima is as a coach and does not extend to administrative duties. However, he vouched for the management of the school’s football programme.

“Naparima has always been a school of integrity,” said Eve. “I have been here for about 10 years, and I have never heard at any time that Naparima had issues in registering students.”

On Monday, Naparima face Presentation College (San Fernando) in the South Intercol final and, already, Eve turned his attention to that challenge.

The “Pres Lions” defeated Naparima 1-0 in their league meeting this season, and Eve is wary of what their rivals might have cooking.

“We might do something different when we come up against Pres,” he said. “They did something different when we came up against them in the league. They were very defensive. They went 5-4-1, so who knows—they may do that again, or they may come with something different.

“It is a final… My job is to get them refocused to go again on Monday.”

Naparima, according to Eve, are not done yet.

(Teams)

Naparima College (4-3-3): 1.Mikhal Clement (GK); 6.Camron Bovell (14.Mikhael Bullock 84), 3.Elijah Edwards, 4.Antonio Hills, 24.Sebastian James, 21.Jacob O’Reilly (11.Adasa Richardson 90+1), 9.Jabari Rodriguez, 8.Jerrel Cooper (captain) (22.Shabani Thompson 63); 23.Arron Raymond (10.Xarion France 69), 17.Riquelme Phillips, 5.Jaydon Caprietta.

Unused substitutes: 25.Adriano Baptiste (GK), 7.Ryan Radellant, 15.Seth Eve, 19.Darius Procope, 27.Donovan Drayton.

Coach: Angus Eve.

Signal Hill Secondary (4-2-1-3): 1.Kaleb Romeo (GK); 19.Nickel Williams, 2.Jaquon Defour, 8.Raevion Marshall, 3.Daishawn Bradshaw (14.Kyen Anderson 24); 6.Khaleem Trim (17.Jediael Marcelle 24), 18.Ackim Duncan (captain); 10.Jermaine Morgan (21.Siel Mills 76); 12.Immanual Wright, 9.Kyle James, 7.J’meke Watkins (5.Callany Job 63).

Unused substitutes: 25.Emani Baptiste (GK), 13.Jaden Marcelle, 20.Kaden James, 24.Kisean Grant, 30.Kodi Cadiz.

Coach: Downie Marcelle.

Referee: Andrew Samuel.

SSFL Premier Division results

(Thu 27 Nov)

Naparima College 2 (Riquelme Phillips 7, Sebastian James 19), Signal Hill Secondary 1 (Raevion Marshall 83 pen) at Lewis Street;

Malick Secondary 1 (Anest Da Silva 2), Fatima College 3 (Jeremai Nanton 70, Jonathan Mason 82, Raymond Dayal 90+4) at TBA;

Trinity East 0, St Benedict’s College 5 (Josiah Ochoa 23, Elijah David 31, Adam Pierre 56, Orande Parris 68, Ruben Phillip 74) at Trincity;

Trinity College 2 (Jaeden Samuel 54, Kevez Quintero 67), Presentation (San F’do) 3 (Roshaun Doobay 7, Nkosi Foncette 41, Kwesi Seales 53) at Moka.

Upcoming fixture

(To be determined)

Scarborough Secondary v San Juan North, 3.30pm, Shaw Park.