SSFL 25: Naparima overturn early deficit against Arima North; Fatima, Signal Hill, ‘Pres’ and Benedict’s make strong starts

Naparima College continued to build on their statement win from round one of the 2025 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season, with a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Arima North Secondary at the Arima Velodrome today.

The result saw “Naps” stay perfect on top of the table, although Presentation College (San Fernando), St Benedict’s College, Signal Hill Secondary and defending champions Fatima College all made strong starts today.

Fatima and Presentation both recorded 3-0 wins over Scarborough Secondary and Trinity College East, respectively, while St Benedict’s downed Queen’s Royal College 4-1 at Mahaica Oval, and Signal Hill routed Trinity College 7-1.

At the Velodrome, it really was a game of two halves.

Arima got off to a strong start, and it only took five minutes before holding midfielder Criston Gomez, up in attack for a left-side free kick, floated an inviting cross that his captain, centre back Jaquan Aguilleria—also up for the free kick—headed wide.

Naps, in their pink away strip, struggled to string passes together under the relentless Arima press, resulting in numerous passing errors. And, when they did get into the attacking zone, they met sturdy resistance from the Dial Dynamos’ back three of Aguillera, Hasheem Hill and Garrick Thomas.

Still, in the 20^th minute, Jabari Rodriguez fashioned a bit of space, but his shot failed to trouble Micaiah Thomas in the Arima goal.

The real talking point of the half happened a minute later when Thomas (M) fouled striker Adasa Richardson just outside his 18-yard area.

Despite Richardson potentially being clear on goal, referee Shawn Gonzalez deemed a caution to be a sufficient sanction—leaving a few Naparima spectators perplexed by his apparent leniency.

Arima continued to push their opponents back. Striker Zion Metivier looked dangerous on the half hour as he received a pass from attacking midfielder Micha’el John and forced a save from Mikhail Clement in the Naps goal.

Seconds later, Arima forced another turnover and this time it was John’s turn to waste a good cross from left winger Keston Richards by shooting comfortably over the bar.

The hosts remained in the ascendancy, but had to wait until the 36^th minute to open their account.

A Gomez free kick was headed by Aguilleria—that combination again—into the path of a lurking Metivier. And Metivier’s striker instincts served him well, as he swivelled to hit the ball confidently past Clement to excite the partisan crowd.

Tails up, the hosts created a couple of chances for John. But his first opportunity in the 39^th minute went wide, and his second, a few minutes later off a Kafense McKell cross, was cleared by the Naps defence.

Naps weathered the pressure and would have considered themselves lucky to go into the interval just one goal behind.

However, in the second of three added-on minutes, Richardson received the ball on the right side of the box, and managed to hold off Hill before sending a perfect cross for Xarion France, arriving from midfield, to tap in.

It was a real punch in the gut for Arima, who had given away nothing defensively until then, were trying to substitute injured defender Thomas (G) at the time.

In the second half, Naps were finally able to start stringing together passes, but Arima’s defence continued to hold firm.

Naps’ coach Angus Eve made a few important adjustments that helped his team establish control, such as swapping roles between left back Sebastian James and left winger Jaydon Caprietta.

The southern juggernauts were on the front foot now, as they created space down either wing. Right winger Arron Raymond, in particular, seemed to come into the game a lot more.

In the 64^th minute, Raymond provided a cross to previously quiet midfielder Jabari Rodriguez, who failed to trouble keeper Thomas. A couple minutes later, the best passing move of the game saw Raymond’s header sail wide.

Fatigue started to set in for the hosts and a number of their players required treatment for cramps.

The closest Arima came to challenging the Naps goal was a strong tackle from Gomez, about 30 yards out, that had to be held by Clement on his goal line.

Then, in the 86^th minute, an innocuous cross into the home team’s box was misplayed by De Four. And James latched onto the loose ball to smash his shot past Thomas (M).

If the equaliser was a gut punch, then this was the knockout blow.

Naps made sure of the points, three minutes into stoppage time, when substitute striker Ryan Radellant headed in a cross from Raymond to complete a tidy counter-attacking move.

Arima’s technical director, Wayne Sheppard, felt like his team was in the game for the first hour, but lamented their preseason, during which he said players prioritised other competitions, which negatively affecting fitness.

“I’ve gone on record talking about the poor preseason that we’ve had with boys not showing up,” said Sheppard. “Up to a couple weeks ago boys [were] going to play in a minor league competition instead of coming to do the work.”

He pointed out that performances in other youth competitions do not matter as the SSFL Premier League is the highest level that aspiring youth footballers can play locally.

“If you cannot play 90 minutes at this level, teams are going to punish you,” he said. “We need to correct that.”

Captain Aguilleria agreed with his coach’s assessment.

“I think we started the game good, but eventually we started to die down,” he said, “and I think our fitness is part of that.”

Aguilleria also thought that his team matched up well against Naps. In the end, it was the errors that made the difference.

“Silly mistakes caused it (the goals),” said Aguilleria. “I think we could work on it and fix it for the next game.”

Naparima manager Percy Samlalsingh was pleased with the result, though he admitted that his team were fortunate that Arima did not capitalise on their first half opportunities.

“They were the better team in the first half, but did not make their chances count,” said Samlalsingh. “Coach [Eve] made some tactical tweaks at halftime, and we got control of the game from there.”

He also stated that they were not worried that they got their winner late, as they were in total control of the game by then.

“We were creating opportunities, so we felt like it was a matter of time,” he said. “Arima are a very good team—we drew with them last year, so we came here thinking a point is a good result. To leave with all three points is really good.

“We’re pleased with the boys.”

(Teams)

Arima North Secondary (3-1-3-3): 12. Micaiah Thomas (GK); 4.Garrick Thomas (13.Terriq Thomas 46), 19.Hasheem Hill, 20.Jaquan Aguilleria (captain); 3.Criston Gomez; 17.Cristiano Hinds (11.Sherlon Nesbitt 62), 10.Darren De Four, 21.Micha’el John (33.Hirshil Parks 90+4); 18.Kafense Mckell (14.Dimitre Jones 62), 9.Zion Metivier, 7.Keston Richards (29.Zain Greenidge 82).

Unused substitutes: 1.Jadon-Paul Alexander (GK), 2.Jeremiah George, 5.Essien Thomas, 6.O’Neil Dyer, 24.Ky-Mani Moore, 32.Jeremiah Leera.

Coach: Wayne Sheppard.

Naparima College (4-2-3-1): 1.Mikhail Clement (GK); 2.Jeremiah Daniel, 16.Darion Hernandez, 4.Antonio Hills, 24.Sebastian James; 9.Jabari Rodriguez, 22.Shabani Thompson (captain) (18.Xavi James 87); 23.Arron Raymond, 10.Xarion France (7.Ryan Radellant 82), 5.Jaydon Caprietta; 11.Adasa Richardson (14.Donovan Drayton 73).

Unused substitutes: 6.Charles Malik, 8.Jerrel Cooper, 3.Kereem Alexander, 19.Darius Procope, 25.Adriano Baptiste, 26.Gianluca Bailey.

Coach: Angus Eve.

Referee: Shawn Gonzales.

SSFL Premier Division results

(Wed 17 September)

Arima North 1 (Zion Metivier 36), Naparima College 3 (Xarion France 45+2, Sebastian James 86, Ryan Radellant 90+3) at Arima Velodrome;

Scarborough Secondary 0, Fatima College 3 (Reagan Rowe, Seth Hadeed, Jahaem Bailey) at Scarborough ground;

Presentation (San F’do) 3 (Jordan Bernard 19, Isaiah Jacob 53, 90), Trinity East 0 at Mannie Ramjohn Stadium;

St Benedict’s College 4 (Jelani Stoute 29, Adam Pierre 60, 76, Jaylon Figaro 85), QRC 1 (Joshua Figaro OG 77) at Mahaica Oval;

St Mary’s College 5 (Nadeem Grant 32, Eran McLeod 40, Jaylon Manswell 75, Finn De Freitas 82, Joshua Miguel 87), Carapichaima East 2 (Khaleil Serrette OG 2, Jerel Charles 12) at Serpentine Road;

Signal Hill Sec 7 (Jmeke Watkins 27, Immanuel Wright 42, Jadiael Marcelle 68, Nickel Williams 79, Kyle James 90, 90+3, Jahmiah Gibbes 90+6), Trinity College 1 (Jediah David 5) at Signal Hill;

San Juan North 1 (Malique Marrasat 11), St Augustine Sec 1 (Giovanni Hospedales 24) at Bourg Mulatresse.

Editor’s Note: The fixture between St Anthony’s College and Malick Secondary at Westmoorings did not play due to extremely heavy field conditions.

Upcoming fixtures

(Sat 20 September)

Fatima College v St Benedict’s College, 3.30pm, Mucurapo Road;

Presentation (San F’do) v San Juan North, 3.30pm, Mannie Ramjohn Stadium;

Signal Hill Sec v St Anthony’s College, 3.30pm, Signal Hill;

Carapichaima East v QRC, 3.30pm, Carapichaima East ground;

Trinity East v St Mary’s College, 3.30pm, Trincity;

Trinity College v Naparima College, 3.30pm, Moka;

Malick Secondary v Scarborough Sec, 3.30pm, TBA;

St Augustine Sec v Arima North, 3.30pm, Warren Street.