SSFL 23: Prince stars again as Trinity stun St Anthony’s, Fatima extend lead

A pair of goals from former Men’s National Under-17 forward Michael Chaves and another from Joshua Mason saw high-flying Fatima College extend their lead in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division to five points today.

Fatima started the day with a three-point lead over second placed San Juan North Secondary. But a 1-1 draw between San Juan and the routinely unpredictable Malick Secondary gave Fatima a chance to pull further away from the pack, which they did not waste—with just three rounds of matches left.

There was a big shift in the top half of the standings as defending champions St Benedict’s College leapt from fourth to second with a 4-2 win over Queen’s Royal College.

Naparima College, who drew 2-2 away to Speyside High, fell from third to fourth—while San Juan North are now third.

Arima North Secondary climbed over Presentation College (San Fernando) to sixth, after a 1-0 win away to bottom placed Chaguanas North Secondary. The “Pres Lions” were held goalless by St Mary’s College on Serpentine Road.

At Westmoorings, Trinity College East gave another indication of the competitiveness of SSFL teams this term with a 4-2 whipping of fifth-placed St Anthony’s College.

The “Blue Hawks”, inspired by another Khaleem Prince hattrick, are now 10 points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand to go with three remaining rounds. And, for good measure, they climbed two places to 11th in the 16 team standings.

For the “Westmoorings Tigers”, any lingering hope of clawing their way to a maiden Premier League trophy ended today.

Trinity were second best for possession and attempts on target in the first half. In contrast, St Anthony’s were confident and in command from the start and could have taken a lead within the first five minutes, when holding midfielder Aalon Wilson-Wright rocked the goalpost from a freekick.

But by the end, Trinity College East looked anything but a team languishing near the bottom of the standings.

“It’s not like we haven’t been doing this—playing well,” Trinity East head coach Dwayne Davis told Wired868 after the match. “We just haven’t been putting the ball in the net. What we’ve been saying whole season [is] that we’re creating chances and not finishing.

“Now, it was nice to finish some chances and get a win, especially against a top-five team.”

St Anthony’s, and midfielder Daniel Rose in particular, were a constant early headache for the visitors. Rose was alert, nifty and creative on the left wing but was ultimately unable to test Trinity goalkeeper Alexis Ambrose from any of his speculative attempts.

St Anthony’s came closest to scoring about a half-hour in when Mordecai Ford threaded an exquisite pass to burly forward Jean-Marc Thomas, whose angled shot missed by inches.

In the process, Ambrose was left with a suspected knee injury from a collision with Thomas and had to be replaced by reserve goalkeeper Jadon Pollard.

But what a role Pollard played!

Trinity immediately faced a barrage of attacks from the home team, all of which were saved almost effortlessly by Pollard—including a couple from point-blank range.

The “Blue Hawks” then had a chance to take an unlikely lead at the end of the first half, when an unmarked Joshua Figaro met a lofted cross on the right side of the box. But with just the keeper to beat, the former National Under-17 midfielder sliced his volleyed effort wide.

Things got a little dicey for the visitors when Pollard was also left reeling on the ground during a St Anthony’s charge and required treatment. Fortunately, he was able to continue as Trinity got the interval with the score still goalless.

“I didn’t tell them what to do [at half time],” Davis told Wired868. “I told them what they weren’t doing.”

Davis’ message seemed to resound with his charges. Although St Anthony’s emerged the stronger team at the start of the second half, the momentum shifted when Trinity took a one-nil lead against the run of play in the 51st minute—after Prince slotted home his first real chance.

No more than a minute later, Trinity College went 2-0 ahead when Plaza struck a powerful left footed effort past Tigers goalkeeper Germany Jackson.

St Anthony’s could and should have cut the deficit in the 57th minute when Ford created another chance with a beautifully lofted ball over the defence for winger Andell Fraser. But Pollard was equal to the challenge.

Trinity added insurance in the 68th minute with one of the goals of the match, as left-back Anderson Barnwell made a run beyond his territory, and charged past a pair of St Anthony’s defenders before playing the pass smartly across the face of the goal.

The opportunity seemed to elude everyone, but Price turned up from nowhere to shoot calmly and confidently into the goal for his second item.

St Anthony’s finally got their response in the 74th minute. There was nothing Pollard could do to stop Ford—one of their few bright sparks on the day—from slamming home a venomous strike from close range.

Not long after, Pollard hit the deck yet again after a collision.

“They going in to injure the man, yuh know,” a member of Trinity’s management complained.

There was time for Prince to complete his hat-trick in the dying moments of time added on. Played though with just the keeper to beat, he slotted it through Jack’s legs for his ninth goal of the season.

St Anthony’s would also pull one more goal back at the death, with defender Russel Francois finally getting one of his free kicks to hit the back of the net.

It flattered him too, as Pollard failed to deal with what looked to be a routine effort on target, and somehow parried the ball into his own net. But the Trinity goalkeeper was surely forgiven based on his earlier heroics.

Davis said he was impressed with his Pollard’s immediate impact on the match, and said his effort augurs well for competition within that position.

“It’s really what you expect from a goalkeeper,” he said. “Save what you can save—if a man scores a beauty, he scores a beauty.

“We have confidence in our goalkeepers… I like what I’m seeing in terms of their efforts and these big saves they’re making.”

Davis and his staff were loud and animated on the sidelines while the Trinity fans reacted boisterously to the heavy challenges on their team’s two goalkeepers, none of which resulted in cautions from the referee.

In fact, referee Marlon Peruse issued no cards at all throughout the affair, even though the tackles grew in ferocity as the match progressed.

There was a sense of consistency though, as a Trinity College player perhaps escaped a card of either colour after planting his boot into Ford’s ribcage with a leaping challenge, in full view of the two benches and match commissioner.

But Davis was graceful in his post-match remarks.

“With officiating, as with everything else, nobody is perfect,” he said. “Sometimes the emotions can get [the better of] a team, especially when you feel like some of the calls are costing you goals.

“I thought with their first goal, a player was pulled down right in front the referee and he didn’t call it and it led straight to a goal. So things like that.

“[…] We just want more consistency from the referees. Nobody is perfect. I’m not perfect.”

His opposite number Ronald Daniel directed post-match questions to his deputy Mashama Baptiste.

“We had some chances and we should have put some away as well, so I would say [the result] was a bit exaggerated,” said Baptiste. “[St Anthony’s] allowed the game to get away from them a bit too early in the second half.

“[…] There was a lot of individualistic play. They weren’t combining enough and everyone was trying to run with the ball a bit too much, so they caught us out in midfield and out of position much of the time.”

It was a deflating loss for St Anthony’s who had just come off a 1-0 win over title contenders San Juan North in midweek.

“I think after [our defensive performance] on Wednesday against San Juan North, coming back here, it really was a step down,” said Baptiste. “The energy wasn’t the same. They didn’t [receive] the instructions as we wanted them to.”

Trinity East are now mathematically safe from relegation and can begin looking ahead to their defence of the East Zone Intercol crown.

(Teams)

St Anthony’s College (4-1-4-1): 30.Germany Jackson (GK); 18.Rondell Harewood (3.Obadiah Eyeadelrosiyhia 46), 5.Russell Francois, 13.Jeremy Bobb, 2.Ishmael Castang; 10.Aalon Wilson-Wright (captain); 17.Andell Fraser (26.Malik Addley 89), 7.Theo Crovador, 9.Mordecai Ford, 19.Daniel Rose (8.Amari Dunbar 54); 14.Jean-Marc Thomas (11.Joshua Miller 89).

Unused substitutes: 4.Lemuel Hercules, 20.Jamarli Mootoo, 22.Josiah Morris, 23.Tyrell Voisin, 27.Jaheim Prescott, 29.Terique Theobald.

Coach: Ronald Daniel

Trinity College East (4-3-3): 22.Alexis Ambrose (GK) (1.Jadon Pollard (GK) 34); 13.Jahrell Ignatius (19.Josiah Daniel 67), 6.Hasheem Hill, 4.Nicholas Whiteman (captain), 12.Anderson Barnwell; 7.Deishawn Plaza, 5.Dexter Croal, 10.Joshua Figaro (25.Daniel Hope 82); 18.Jonathan Emrith, 9.Keslon Pierre (21.Ethan Fortune 89), 17.Khaleem Prince.

Unused substitutes: 3. Nathan Prowell, 8.Tayshaun Cummings, 11.Elijah Diaz, 15.Jean-Luc Romero, 20.Seretse Browne, 24.Nathan Pascall.

Coach: Dwayne Davis

Referee: Marlon Peruse

Premier Division results

(Saturday 21 October)

St Anthony’s College 2 (Mordecai Ford 60, Russel Francois 90+2), Trinity East 4 (Khaleem Prince 51, 61, 90+2, Deisean Plaza 52) at Westmoorings;

Fatima College 3 (Joshua Mason 74, Michael Chaves 78, 86), Bishop’s High 0 at Fatima Ground;

East Mucurapo 8 (Brandon Parks [3], Nieem Taylor [2], Zion Harley, Maalik Jarvis, Al-Kalipha Henry), Pleasantville Secondary 5 (Kelon Williams [2], Kiev Robertson, Desean Adams, Joshuel Simon) at Moka;

Speyside High 2 (Nkosi Quashie 16 pen, Riquelme Phillips 85), Naparima College 2 (Tevin Pantor 38, Israel Joseph 90) at Speyside Recreation Ground;

San Juan North 1 (Lindell Sween), Malick Secondary 1 (Oba Samuel pen) at Bourg Mulatresse;

St Benedict’s College 4 (Jaden Grant [2], Malachi Webb, Jeremiah Niles), QRC 2 (Mussadiq Mohammed [2]) at Manny Ramjohn Stadium;

St Mary’s College 0, Presentation (San F’do) 0 at Serpentine Road;

Chaguanas North 0, Arima North 1 (Tyrell Stapleton 63) at Edinburgh 500.

Upcoming fixtures

(Wednesday 25 October)

QRC vs Naparima College, QRC Ground, 3.45pm;

Presentation (San F’do) vs St Anthony’s College, Manny Ramjohn Stadium, 3.30pm;

Fatima College vs Trinity East, Fatima Ground, 3.45pm;

Chaguanas North vs Speyside High, Edinburgh 500, 3.30pm;

Arima North vs Bishop’s High, Larry Gomes Stadium, 3.30pm;

Pleasantville Secondary vs St Benedict’s College, Mannie Ramjohn Stadium Training Field, 3.45pm;

Malick Secondary vs East Mucurapo, Serpentine Road, 3.45pm;

San Juan North vs St Mary’s College, Bourg Mulatresse, 3.45pm.