RBNYFL 25: Jabloteh, QPCC record big wins, as league makes blazing start despite scheduling snafus

San Juan Jabloteh raced to the top of the East Zone U-20 Division of the Republic Bank National Youth Football League with a 10-2 thrashing of newcomers Adrenaline Football Academy at St Augustine.

Their divisional rivals, QPCC FC, stayed close beating AIA Eagles 7-1 in what would have been the third game of the U-20 Division at the St Augustine Secondary School Grounds.

The opening game between Tinto’s Sporting Academy and FC Ginga was blown off after a late scheduled change left the former outfit unable to field a team for the match.

The Tinto Academy was initially on a bye for the opening round. However, the club said that a new schedule was released in the early hours of Saturday morning, which pitted them against FC Ginga from 11am.

On the original fixture list, Ginga FC were due to face Betis Academy TT at 9am. Instead, Betis Academy popped up in the North Zone where they lost 18-0 to Pro Series.

It means the East Zone U-20 Division is likely to have six teams rather than eight, while only four saw action on Match Day One.

League officials told Wired868 that the match between Tinto’s Sporting Academy and FC Ginga will be played on Wednesday from 4pm at the Montague Recreation Ground in Trincity.

“The massive amount of withdrawals of teams affected our scheduling because we had to do it manually and with any manual system, the chances of making errors increase,” said TTGameplan managing director Dennis Tayé Allen, whose company is managing the 2025 tournament.

“So, we want to apologize to the clubs that were affected by that. We won’t throw anybody under the bus but certainly we have a lot of moving parts and sometimes we need to understand why things are how they are and how to improve them.

“We want to establish that the issues that created problems for clubs have been addressed.”

The RBNYFL was initially projected to start with 133 teams, although that dropped to 124 outfits last week. Just over 80 youth teams took to the football fields across Trinidad and Tobago over the weekend.

At the moment, registration is ongoing via the Fifa Management Connect System. Allen congratulated his management team on their efforts, given the short timeframe.

“Generally speaking, it was as close to flawless as we could have ever hoped for given all of the time constraints,” he said. “Given the slow uptake of clubs to the Fifa Connect system and given the deluge of last-minute transfers and inclusions, we were quite satisfied with how things went.

“Our logistics and operations teams, we executed—not just as best as, but I think we set a new benchmark for the service sector.”

Refereeing no-shows added to opening day teething problems. The San Juan Jabloteh/ Adrenaline Football Academy match started just over 10 minutes late, with only one match official at the venue by the scheduled 1pm start.

Assistant referee Cherry-Ann Dookram was later joined by veteran Gregory Mansano, 71, while another seasoned official, Colin Smith carried the whistle.

A senior football official in the crowd said that there were not enough referees for all the football that is being played right now.

“We are under pressure,” they said.

When the game started, all that went before was quickly forgotten—as Jabloteh scored within the first minute. It was their first of six goals in the first half.

Tyrese Andrews belted a loose ball into the corner of the net from outside the area.

Tyrell Stapleton then notched a quick double from close-range finishes to put the San Juan Kings up 3-0.

Jabloteh then contrived to miss chance after chance in the middle period of the first half as the endorphins triggered during their opening salvo ebbed away.

Stapleton missed several chances to complete his hat trick. But after getting a long-range ‘hair dryer’ from one of Jabloteh’s assistant coaches, he made amends.

After Jelani Valentine headed in the San Juan outfit’s fourth goal, Stapleton blasted in his third goal with another crisp close-range finish. And Marcel Valentine rounded off the first half by scoring on the cusp of half-time to hand San Juan Jabloteh a 6-0 lead.

Adrenaline Football Academy were playing their first-ever match in the Republic Bank National Youth Football League and, when the second half commenced, few expected them to provide much resistance.

Within a minute of the restart, Trevon Small wrote his name into his club’s history books as the scorer of their first RBNYFL goal.

Presented with a free-kick just outside the Jabloteh box, he hit a wicked right-footed effort that curled into the top bin to the left of the Jabloteh keeper.

Minutes later, Small attempted an ambitious trivela from 25 meters with the outside of his right foot. The football’s trajectory started outside of the upright and swerved viciously to hit the top corner of the Jabloteh goal.

It was a majestic goal that former Portugal star Richardo Quaresma, the Zen master of the trivela, would have applauded.

Two quality goals from the Adrenaline player and hopes of an unlikely comeback were dancing merrily in the minds of the Adrenaline fans.

However, Jabloteh ruthlessly snuffed out any such hopes with three quality long range strikes of their own.

Marcel Valentine scored his second with a screamer from 22 meters, before Christian Baptiste and substitute Adam Francis also beat Adrenaline goalkeeper Jayden Noray from distance.

With Jabloteh ahead 9-2, Stapleton returned to notch his fourth goal and make it an even 10 goals for the match.

It may have been the proverbial baptism of fire for newcomers Adrenaline, but for Jabloteh coach Hugh Ricky Guerra, his team was not up to scratch.

“They did not play at their best—you saw how many chances they threw away,” said Guerra. “It’s lack of fitness too because players now start to come into training. We started training two or three weeks ago so basically, they are not fit.

“[…] Not really [pleased], [maybe] half-way. I know our guys could have done better than that. Some of them done apologize for it. They know the standard that we set.

“Past players we had at San Juan Jabloteh, we used to hit sides 25. That is the standard we set. If a side gives you 100 goals to score, you should score 100 goals. The scoreline should have been far worse!”

For Adrenaline head coach Alexis Charles, this is a period of transition for the Arima-based team. He described his club as a development programme and said their RBNYFL debut was: “a first experience for a lot of these guys in playing this kind of football”.

Trailing 6-0 at the half, Charles demanded more fight from his charges.

“I told these guys, ‘You guys asked for this. If you want something, I will give it to you. Let me see some fight.’”

Small, suitably fired up, went on to score two of the best goals of the match.

“What you saw on Saturday is part of his package, freekicks and more,” said Charles. “He can hit the ball with both left and right feet. If he picks up his head and sees an opportunity, he is pretty good.”

The Adrenaline FC coach does not expect the heavy defeat to daunt his charges as he believes his team has gelled well and will absorb the loss.

“I think these guys love each other as brothers—big brothers, and small brothers. We don’t let situations like this deter us from achieving what we want to achieve.”

In the final game on Saturday, Micah Nelson and Khaleem Prince inspired QPCC FC to a 7-1 win over an underdone AIA Eagles team.

QPCC started shakily at the back and an errant pass by goalkeeper Jadon-Paul Alexander presented a golden opportunity to AIA forward Dalon Sankar to put his team ahead.

However, his fierce right-footed drive clanged off the underside of the bar and stayed out.

It was a close call for the Parkites, but their head coach Wayne Sheppard felt it was exactly the tonic his team needed.

“That was the smelling salts that they needed… The shot across the bow, so to speak, was what we needed to wake us up,” Sheppard said.

Not long after, QPCC midfielder Giovani Hospedales strode into the box after a well-worked exchange with forward Shanon Zion Metivier to slip the ball past AIA custodian Joash Harris and give his team a 1-0 lead.

However, QPCC were still working the bugs out of their defensive unit. And they were punished when a hopeful Armando Sham Poo shot on goal bobbled off Alexander’s arms and over the line.

With Hospedales and Prince pulling the strings in the midfield and Nelson adding his heady brand of mayhem on the left wing, QPCC always looked the superior team though.

Evasive to the point where he seemed capable of disappearing while shaking your hand, Nelson gave the AIA defence no end of torment with his close control, wizardly dribbling, and a preternatural sense of finding space in tight quarters.

He produced the goal of the game in the first half, chipping the ball in from the inside left position while incredibly putting enough side spin on the football to bend it into the top angle of the AIA goal.

Prince beefed up their advantage with a brave far post header off a Hospedales cross to send QPCC into the dressing room with a 3-1 advantage.

The Parkites did not relent in the second half. Nelson completed his hat-trick with two typically insouciant finishes before Prince and the hard-running Metivier added goals to bump the final score up to 7-1.

Despite the win, the QPCC FC head coach was not satisfied with his team’s performance.

“I am glad for the boys with the win,” said Sheppard. “As I pointed out to them, we were not as good as we judge ourselves, because we can only judge ourselves by what we practice to do, and we did not do a number of things—both on the offensive and the defensive side today.

“The talent that we had was superior so we were able to escape with not executing as we should. When we start to face tougher teams, we need to be better than we were today.”

AIA coach Perry Martin accepted that his troops were second-best on the day.

“It looked like QPCC was a bit fitter than us,” said the former United Petrotrin goalkeeper. “They started a bit slow and when they settled down, they played much better than us. You can see how it ended.

“The next game we come out we will play better.”

Sheppard, however, felt the 7-1 scoreline was misleading.

“It actually wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests because we did not, especially [in the] first half, do the things that we were supposed to do—especially defensively,” he said.

“I think the scoreline flattered us in a sense. We were better but we weren’t seven goals better in terms of how we were supposed to play.”

Jabloteh’s 10-2 statement win over Adrenaline did not go unnoticed by QPCC and Sheppard said the San Juan Kings would be a tough opponent later in the tournament.

Round Two of the 2025 Republic Bank National Youth Football League is on 15-16 February.

Teams

San Juan Jabloteh (4-3-3): 1. Stephon Langaigne (GK) (captain); 23.Nehiem Critchlow, 12.Jalani Valentine, 16.Isaiah Audain, 14.Keon Roach; 15.Kemarley Pierre, 25.Tyrese Andrews, 8.Marcel Valentine; 4.Daniel George, 9.Tyrell Stapleton, 13.Christian Baptiste

Substitutes: 2. Dhiren Tewarie, 3.Quami Waite, 10. Jadon Carter, 11.Kendall Castle, 17.Jonathan Lee Fai, 19.Shumba Cudjoe, 21.Omaleke Paul, 24.Cameron Cain, 26.Adam Francis

Coach: Hugh Ricky Guerra.

Adrenaline Football Academy (4-3-3): 1.Joash Noray; 5.Zion Phillip, 2.Ayden Wells, 11.Ayodele John, 20.Gavontae Haynes; 16.Justin Williams, 24.Trevon Small, 9.Jabari Naulings; 17.Javon Julien, 7.Christian Winter, 14.Ixiah Julien

Substitutes: 3.Darius Salino, 12.Malik Joseph, 15.Jaheem Browne, 18.Joash Williams, 21.Jaydon Mahabir, 22.G’Lani Haynes, 23.Kierce James

Coach: Alexis Charles.

Referee: Colin Smith.

QPCC FC (3-4-3): 1.Jadon-Paul Alexander (GK); 15.Phillip Gray, 16.Ability Hazel, 3.Micaiah Leach; 10.Khaleem Prince (captain), 14.Jeremiah Frank-Williams, 7.Deisean Plaza, 17.Giovanni Hospedales; 22.Makai Simmons, 23.Shanon Zion Metivier, 32.Micah Nelson.

Substitutes: 45.Jaheim Affan (GK), 2.Zakari King, 4.Yohance Atherton, 5.Dexter Croal, 9.Israel Joseph, 19.Terriq Thomas, 20.Zion Aberdeen, 24.Uzochi Bacchus, 31.Hirshil Parks.

Coach: Wayne Sheppard.

AIA Eagles (4-3-3): 1.Joash Harris (GK); 16.Selvon, 13.Matthias Motilal, 20.Osei Thompson, 5.DeJon Lezama; 6.Kevin Ramdass, 8.Jamel Lucas, 2.Armando Sham Poo; 10.Dalon Sankar, 9.Donte Gordon, 14.Kendall King.

Substitutes: 4.Darion Griffith, 7 Sherlon Lucas, 11.Mackhai Reece, 15.Nathaniel Skeete, 17.Xavion Williams, 18.Jerrell Monroe, 23.Daniel Jones, 30.Joshua Jones

Coach: Perry Martin.

Referee: Tyrell Wilson.

RBNYFL 2025

Match Day One

(Saturday 8 February)

Under-14 Division

Central Zone

Cooper’s Coaching Academy 0, FC Tigers 4 (Kaden Fournillier [2], Jayden Reece, Hamzah Abdul-Latif) at Valsayn Teachers Training College;

T&T Maestros 0, Premier SC 2 (Nicholas Doyle, Khirel Charles) at Valsayn Teachers Training College.

East Zone

Arima Araucans 0, San Juan Jabloteh 2 at El Dorado West Secondary;

Beatnix SC 6 (Zidan Tinto [2], Dmitri Hajaree [2], Keanu Greig, Nakeem Pierre), FC Santa Rosa 0 at El Dorado West Secondary;

Cardinals FA 2 (Angelo Fairchild, Dylan Suarez), Blue Hawks FC 3 (Rea Jean Vanloo [2], Ajani George pen) at El Dorado West Secondary;

AIA 0, Creek SCC 11 (Aaden Jones [2], Joshua York [2], Jeremiah Gomez [2], Lael Augustus pen, Kymani Huggins, Jeremiah Edwards, Antonio Frank, Jaydon West) at El Dorado West Secondary.

North Zone

Santa Cruz Utd 5, AC POS 1 at Trinity Moka field 1;

Dibe Dragons FA 0, Trendsetter Hawks 4 (Andell Khan, Jadon Guy, Nickel Gordon, Israel Wickham) at Trinity Moka field 1;

Moka Lions FC 1 (Jaquan Manswell), Project Pro Academy 0 at Trinity Moka field 1;

City FC 1 (Jiair Nanton), Pro Series 2 (Zaavan Joseph pen, Amani Delph) at Trinity Moka field 1.

South Zone

Carrat Shed FFA 4, Tiny Mike’s FC 1 at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 1;

Cox CS 1, Point Fortin YFA 2 at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 1.

Tobago Zone

Bethel United 1 (Ezekiel Phillips 47), St Clair’s CS 1 (Kayden Beckles 10) at Plymouth Recreational Grounds;

Brother Ry FA 1 (Giraldo Stewart), Stokely Vale FC 1 (Nikiel Sandy) Plymouth Recreational Grounds;

Ball Blasters YA 6 (Jaden Marcelle 18, Zaire McMillan 34, 48, Jaquan Bernard 45, Jaden Patrick 49, 79), Jaric Titans 1 (Osei Watson 46) at Plymouth Recreational Grounds.

Under-20 Division

Central Zone

Prison FC 2, Premier SC 3 (Jahmalee Barclay [2], Akini Ramsey) at New Settlement Recreation Ground;

Crown Trace FC 4 (Supreme Outar [2], Tyrese David, Israel Outar), Boyce SCC 4 at New Settlement Recreation Ground;

Cooper’s Coaching Academy 2 (Dusan Cooper 12, Savio Yearwood 39), Kamillionare FC 2 (Darius Bruce 53, Remiyah Walcott 64) at New Settlement Recreation Ground.

East Zone

Adrenaline FA 2 (Trevon Small [2]), San Juan Jabloteh 10 (Tyrell Stapleton [4], Marcel Valentine [2], Tyrese Andrew, Jelani Valentine, Christian Baptiste, Adam Francis) at St Augustine Secondary;

QPCC FC 7 (Micah Nelson [3], Khaleem Prince [2], Giovanni Hospedales, Zion Metivier), AIA Eagles 1 (Armando Sham Poo) at St Augustine Secondary.

North Zone

Pro Series 18 (Thomas Decle [4], Jaeden Samuel [4], Kerry Baptiste [3], Stephon James [3], Maalik Jarvis [2], Josante Duncan, Jedaiah King), Betis Academy TT 0 at Trinity Moka field 2;

Extreme FC 8, Miscellaneous Laventille Utd 3 at Trinity Moka field 2;

Seekers FC 0, City FC 5 (Jayden Christopher [2], Josiah Hunte, Jaheim Hinte, Jaylon Manswell) at Trinity Moka field 2;

Moka Lions FC 3 (Anton Joseph, Kevez Quintero, Malacai Roach), Trendsetter Hawks 3 (Abdul-Hakim Muhammad 44, Obadiah Waldron 62, Jahime Joseph 75) at Trinity Moka field 2.

South Zone

Gasparillo Youths 2, Carrat Shed FFA 1 at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2;

Penal Is Love 1, Police FC 2 at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2.

(Sunday 9 February)

Boys Under-17

Central Zone

Crown Trace FC 4 (Supreme Outar [2]), Gasparillo Youths FC 4 (Jarrell Redhead 10, 22, 53, Kaedon Friday 17) at New Settlement Recreation;

Kamillionare FC 0, Beatnix SC 4 (Jaylen Hinds [2], Jahmarley Ellis, Essien Thomas) at New Settlement Recreation;

FC Ginga 2 (Sherlon Nesbitt, Elijah Diaz), Premier SC 1 (Meshach Webb) at New Settlement Recreation.

East Zone

Arima Araucans 0, San Juan Jabloteh 5 (Omaleke Paul 5, Makesi Kendall 46, 48, Kaydon Serrette 68, 70) at St Augustine Secondary;

Creek SCC 1 (Renaldo Punnette 67), Maloney RFC 6 (Tafari Kerr 7, Zahlon Bernard 34, 63, Jaimarley John 56, 76, Tyrese Lambkin 78) at St Augustine Secondary;

Trincity Nationals 3 (Jahiem Mitchell 49, Shornedell Plata 57, 75), Blue Hawks 0 at St Augustine Secondary;

FC Santa Rosa 3 (Tyrell Jacob [2], Lemuel Romeo), AIA 3 (Jaydon Coggins, Maleak Sampson, Kenwyn Lindsay) at St Augustine Secondary.

North Zone

Trendsetter Hawks 17 (Gabriel Frederick 2, 17, 39, Jahseem Pierre 4, 22, 33, 55, Jaquan Phillip 8, 15, 30, Isaiah Noel 50, 57, 65, Kewenis Saunders 20, Kadeem Morrison 38, Jahda Riley 70, Isaiah Blackman 77), Betis Academy 0 at Trinity Moka field 2;

AC POS 0, Pro Series 1 (Giovanni Garcia) at Trinity Moka field 2;

Cardinals FC 4 (Karim Millington [2], Liam Hosein, Jaylon Roberts), Santa Cruz Utd 1 at Trinity Moka field 2.

South Zone

Point Fortin YFA 1 (Elijah David 54), Uprising Youths 1 (Akel Vesprey) at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2;

Dunstan Williams SA 1 (Matthew Parks 59), Moka Lions FC 1 (Kelson Williams 2) at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2;

Carrat Shed FFA 6 (Malik Charles 27, Josiah Brown 36, 47, 55, Shade Katwaroo 43, Jedidiah Ramsey 53), Penal Is Love 2 (Daeshaun Alphonso 30, 72) at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2;

Cox Coaching School 3 (Mikhail Bullock 13, Donovon Drayton Jr 43, Malik Charles 79 pen), Evolution FA 0 at Mannie Ramjohn Training Field 2.

Tobago Zone:

Jaric Titans SDC 0, Ball Blasters YA 12 (J’meke Watkins 8, 47, 51, 66, Jaeden Anthony 14, Jermaine Morgan 16, 34, Calany Job 40, 64, Ackim Duncan 61, Tyric St Louis 69, Emani Baptiste 81) at Plymouth Recreation Grounds;

TJ’s Sporting Academy 2 (Joel Quashie 72, Raheim Phillip 75), North Stars Football Club 3 (Jariel McLetchie 29, Roland Alexander 32, Jayon Antoine 55) at Plymouth Recreation Grounds.

Girls Under-17

Trinidad

Crown Trace FC 1 (Denyke Lewis), AIA 0 at El Dorado West;

Blue Hawks FC 2 (Zade Castillo pen), Cox Coaching School 3 at El Dorado West;

Pro Series 4 (Sydney Pollard [2], Khloe Kirton, Scarlett Cole), Trendsetter Hawks 3 (Geneisha George [2], Glenicea Humphrey) at El Dorado West.

Tobago

Combined Ballerz Academy 1 (Gyasi Lewis), Jewels SC 1 (J’leise Douglas) at Signal Hill;

Black Panthers WSC 0, Tobago Chicas 1 (Malia Lawrence) at Signal Hill.