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Fatima College continued their pursuit of leaders San Juan North Secondary today, as they thumped Queen’s Royal College 7-1 in Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division action at Mucurapo Road.
Midfielder Aidan De Gannes netted a hattrick—one of three trebles today—while winger Christian Bailey got a pair and Michael Chaves and Levi Smith chipped in with a goal apiece for the second placed Premier team.
Fatima whipped QCR 7-1.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Stephon James got the consolation item for QRC, who slipped to 12th in the 16-team standings with nine points from as many matches.
De Gannes also matched the joint highest individual scoring record at present this season, with his ninth goal. It pulled him square with St Mary’s College flanker Ryan Radellant, who had a barren afternoon in Trincity where the “Saints” lost 3-0 to Trinity College East.
Naparima College attacker Tevin Pantor matched De Gannes stride for stride today with a hattrick in a 4-0 win over Bishop’s High at Lewis Street, San Fernando.
It capped a miserable day for Tobago schools, as Speyside High Secondary were brushed aside 4-0 by San Juan North Secondary in east Tobago.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Talisman Lindell Sween notched his eighth goal this season while forward Jaheem Danclar managed his seventh, as the “Bourg Mulatresse Boys” maintained their two-point lead over Fatima.
Elsewhere at the Mahaica Oval in Point Fortin, defending champions St Benedict’s College kept their own hopes of retaining their crown alive with a 3-0 win over Presentation College (San Fernando).
The result, which was a fourth straight win for the “La Romain Lions”, saw Benedict’s move three places up the standings to fourth while Presentation slipped to fifth.
In other midtable outings, St Anthony’s College and Arima North Secondary both failed to keep up with the leaders after draws at home. The “Westmoorings Tigers” could not hold off Malick Secondary, as the two teams played to a 2-2 draw.
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And, in the case of the “Dial Dynamos”, it was a third straight goalless outing at the Arima Velodrome as they finished 0-0 against East Mucurapo Secondary.
In an odd statistic, Arima North have scored in every match this season—except for the three games played at their spiritual home in central Arima.
Trinity East got a timely injection of goals from attacker Khaleem Prince who scored the day’s third hattrick, as the “Blue Hawks” whipped St Mary’s 3-0.
The win saw 13th placed Trinity East get some breathing space from the relegation zone, with a four-point gap from the bottom three.
(Copyright Daniel Prentice/ Wired868)
Pleasantville Secondary moved off the bottom themselves, with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Chaguanas North Secondary at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella.
Not for the first time, Kelon Williams was Pleasantville’s saviour. The southern outfit have six goals this season: one is an own goal, the other five came from the spritely Williams.
Whether he can score at a rate to rescue his troops is the big question. At present, third-from-bottom Pleasantville have four points while Trinity East have eight and QRC have nine.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
On Saturday, QRC host East Mucurapo (who are 11th with 10 points) while Pleasantville are at home against Malick Secondary (also 10 points) and Trinity East are away to Presentation at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium.
Any points gained by the bottom seven teams will be crucial, as they try to inch away from relegation worries.
At the top end of the table, Fatima hosts Arima North and San Juan North welcome Naparima to Bourg Mulatresse.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
If either of the front three slip—which is inevitable with the first and third placed schools going head-to-head—Benedict’s would hope to benefit, as they are away to Chaguanas North.
At present, it looks like the tightest Premier Division competition in recent memory.
SSFL Premier Division results
(Wednesday 11 October)
St Benedict’s College 3 (Malachi Webb [2], Jaden Grant), Presentation (San F’do) 0 at Mahaica Oval;
Pleasantville Secondary 2 (OG, Kelon Williams), Chaguanas North 0 at Manny Ramjohn Stadium;
Fatima College 7 (Aidan De Gannes [3], Christian Bailey [2], Michael Chaves, Levi Smith), QRC 1 (Stephon James) at Fatima Ground;
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
Speyside High 0, San Juan North 4 (Jaheem Danclar, Lindell Sween, Jahdel Chase-Charles, Elizsha Rogers) at Speyside Recreation Ground;
Arima North 0, East Mucurapo 0 at Arima Velodrome;
Naparima College 3 (Tevin Pantor [3], Josiah Cooper), Bishop’s High 0 at Lewis Street;
St Anthony’s College 2 (Jean-Marc Thomas [2]), Malick Secondary 2 (Oba Samuel [2]) at Westmoorings;
Trinity East 3 (Khaleem Prince [3]), St Mary’s College 0 at Trincity.
2023 SSFL Premier Division
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Fatima | 15 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 8 | 42 | 40 |
| 2 |  St Benedict's | 15 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 51 | 10 | 41 | 35 |
| 3 |  San Juan | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 33 |
| 4 |  Presentation | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 8 | 17 | 31 |
| 5 |  Naparima | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 48 | 14 | 34 | 27 |
| 6 |  Arima North | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 10 | 14 | 26 |
| 7 |  St Anthony's | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 21 | 13 | 26 |
| 8 |  Malick | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 42 | 27 | 15 | 20 |
| 9 |  Trinity East | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 28 | -4 | 18 |
| 10 |  Mucurapo | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 40 | -12 | 18 |
| 11 |  QRC | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 17 |
| 12 |  Speyside | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 29 | -11 | 17 |
| 13 |  St Mary's | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 26 | 40 | -14 | 17 |
| 14 |  Bishop's Tobago | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 45 | -36 | 4 |
| 15 |  Chaguanas North | 15 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 64 | -59 | 4 |
Upcoming fixtures
(Saturday 14 October)
Fatima College vs Arima North, Fatima Ground, 3.45pm;
San Juan North vs Naparima College, Bourg Mulatresse, 3.45pm;
QRC vs East Mucurapo, QRC Ground, 3.30pm;
Bishop’s High vs St Anthony’s College, Plymouth Recreation Ground, 3.30pm;
Chaguanas North vs St Benedict’s College, Edinburgh 500, 3.45pm;
Pleasantville Secondary vs Malick Secondary, Manny Ramjohn Stadium Training Field, 3.45pm;
Presentation (San F’do) vs Trinity East, Manny Ramjohn Stadium, 3.45pm.
St Mary’s College vs Speyside High, Serpentine Road, 3.45pm;
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