SSFL 24: Correia sends Fatima top, but “Green Machine” make champs sweat

Defending champions Fatima College moved atop the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division standings for the first time this season after a 1-0 win away to St Augustine Secondary.

But they would not want to remember too much about how they got there.

Forward Luke Correia got the game’s only goal—and his third item this term—in the 15th minute. But it was a patchy performance from the North Zone bigwigs at Warren Street, St Augustine.

“The three points is the only good thing for us about today,” Fatima head coach Hutson “Baba” Charles told Wired868. “It is hard to pinpoint [what went wrong]. We didn’t perform.

“We can’t have so many players not performing because you will get a [team] performance like this.”

On the opposite bench, coach Tacuma Jones also struggled to articulate what the “Green Machine” could take away from this evening’s rescheduled fixture—but for a different reason.

St Augustine were rarely overawed today and, after a surprise 1-0 win over St Anthony’s College on Saturday, Jones might feel that they should not be leaving Warren Street empty-handed.

“One blunder basically cost us the game,” said Jones. “[…] Fatima [are] an extremely difficult opponent in this Premier [Division] for the last two or three years. So, I think [our team] did pretty well considering the level of the opponent.”

St Augustine started their campaign with a 5-0 loss to Arima North Secondary at the Arima Velodrome. But Jones might point out that he had three new faces in his starting team today, including Blanchisseuse-based brothers Abraham “Osha” Kirk and Simon “Diamond” Kirk.

And, coming on the heels of their weekend triumph over the “Westmoorings Tigers,” today’s result would suggest that the Green Machine are no pushovers.

Still, it is no easy feat to make conclusions on either side based on today’s showing—as the coaches themselves hinted.

The game was less than a minute old when Abraham Kirk helped himself to the first shot. The warning was not heeded.

Six minutes later, Abraham forced Fatima goalkeeper Logan Hamel-Smith into an awkward save to keep out a free kick that had swerve, dip and menace.

Fatima looked rattled.

“We went out with a game plan to basically pressure their backline and see what they are made of,” said Jones.

Fair to say that, on an uneven surface, the Fatima back four and holding midfielder did not look particularly comfortable on the ball at all. And Abraham, a human hurricane in football boots, seemed to be snapping at everyone’s heels at once.

In the eighth minute, St Augustine had the game’s first proper scoring opportunity as attacker Elijah Baptiste dribbled past an opposing defender and pulled the ball back to Marcel Valentine, who hit overbar from 10 yards out.

Fatima were far more composed when their first sniff came in the 15th minute.

Fourteen-year-old right back Kenai Richardson, a national player in his age group, lost possession in the defensive third and found himself isolated against National Under-20 team attacker Michael Chaves, who had National Under-17 midfielder Caden Trestrail and Correia for company.

That was never going to end well for the young man.

An exchange of first-time passes, a lowered Chaves shoulder and acceleration… Richardson might have been giddy by the time that Correia rounded off the Fatima attack with a rocket that went in off the underside of the bar.

Here come Fatima. Right?

Not really.

Trestrail never really got into the match. At Warren Street, the talented playmaker looked like someone trying to do manual labour without getting his three-piece suit dirty.

Flanker Levi Smith looked to be preoccupied with creating his own highlight reel. Midfielder Jedaiah David was clearly struggling to master a difficult playing surface.

And Chaves and Correia just couldn’t get the ball in the right areas of the field.

“This is not the way that Fatima plays,” said Charles. “[…] There was no communication, no combination plays, no composure. It looked like a lot of individuals just playing.

“As I told them after, I am not accepting this kind of performance. You can’t be coming off a good performance against Presentation College and, when you meet teams who now come up, you come and you give this.”

Abraham, the former Blanchisseuse Secondary captain, looked livelier than all of them put together.

The problem, arguably, is that even Abraham’s teammates seemed to have no idea what he would do next. It seemed totally off the cuff.

More times than not, the St Augustine midfielder ended his time on the ball with a whack at the opposing goal—no matter the distance or the angle.

In the 20th minute, Abraham extended Hamel-Smith again with a left-footed rocket that the Fatima custodian pushed away for a corner kick.

But, by the half-hour mark, St Augustine were clearly tiring. And Abraham’s shooting became increasingly erratic.

In the 61st minute, Abraham smashed the ball over the bar, past the fence and into a white SUV that was driving east along Warner Street.

Ten minutes later, he hit another ball even higher, and it flew into the yard of a one-storey house behind the southern goalpost. In the 78th minute, “Osha” deposited his next attempt into the yard of a cream two-storey house on Warner Street.

If Kenny’s Sport Centre could clone Abraham Kirk, the company would make a fortune in football sales.

Fatima struck the bar twice in the first half through Smith and Seth Hadeed, but it would be overstating to suggest that either effort came at the end of sustained pressure.

The defending champions’ attacking thrusts were more measured than St Augustine’s. But they did not come with enough regularity to unnerve their hosts.

“You can’t make a note, boy!”

A St Augustine supporter let Chaves know his feelings, as Charles withdrew his star attacker on the hour mark. The national youth player, who already has one cap for the Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Senior Team, looked into the stands and signalled that Fatima were 1-0 ahead.

“Yeah, but you still can’t make a note,” the supporter retorted. “Come off and hush nah!”

Charles was rueful after the final whistle.

“It looked like we lowered our standard to suit our opponents,” said Charles, who led Fatima to Premier Division and National Intercol titles in the last two seasons.

“A lot of them were complacent today. We will have a stern talk tomorrow and get in-depth into it and see how we can prepare for San Juan on Wednesday.”

The game ended on a sour note for St Augustine, as defender Simon Kirk, on an exceedingly adventurous attacking foray up the middle of the field, received his second yellow card for a lunge at Fatima defender Matthew Barrington—in a vain attempt to compensate for his own heavy touch—and was ejected.

While there was no shortage of energy from the Kirk brothers, their teammates looked spent even before halftime.

Jones explained that St Augustine suffered from a disruptive preseason, which gave him less time with his full squad than is ideal.

It will not be easy for him to rouse his players for a third game in five days, especially when it is away to Speyside High in Tobago. But he said St Augustine will take heart from their ability to impose themselves on the defending champions.

“This is a good sign of things to come,” said Jones. “It is a new crop of players working together—I didn’t really have a full preseason with them. They can only get better from here.”

Fatima, on the other hand, would prefer to forget that their trip to Warren Street ever happened.

“I am happy for the three points,” said Charles. “I told the fellahs just erase this game from your memory.”

Teams

St Augustine Secondary (4-2-3-1): 1.Tyrese Henry (GK); 14.Kenai Richardson, 2.Simon Kirk [Red card 83], 13.Mathias Cruickshank (captain), 12.Aaden Maharaj; 8.Marcel Valentine, 4.Joslyn Jarzinho; 10.Elijah Baptiste (11.Ky-Mani Hazel 86), 7.Abraham Kirk, 19.Michael Charles (18.Shumba Cudjoe 46); 17.Jayden Solozano (9.Donte Gordon 65).

Unused substitutes: 3.Keshaun Wright, 5.Kylon Williams, 6.Rivalio Douen, 15.Jareem Thomas, 16.Riquelme McCollin.

Coach: Tacuma Jones

Fatima College (4-1-4-1): 1.Logan Hamel-Smith (GK); 24.Liam Gooding, 26.Matthew Barrington, 4.Yohance Atherton (captain), 5.Micaiah Leach; 17.Jedaiah King (7.Jahaem Bailey 70); 22.Levi Smith, 23.Caden Trestrail, 8.Seth Hadeed (16.Savio Yearwood 46), 13.Michael Chaves (11.Josiah Gobin 60); 9.Luke Correia.

Unused substitutes: 00.Shameal O’Brien (GK), 10.Thomas Decle, 14.Joziah Contant-Shing Hon, 29.Josiah Fernandes.

Coach: Hutson Charles

Referee: Keilon Bacchus

SSFL Premier Division result

(Mon 23 Sep)

St Augustine Secondary 0, Fatima College 1 (Luke Correia 15) at Warren Street.

Upcoming fixtures

(Wed 25 Sep)

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

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, 3.30pm, 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;

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