Tigers, Naps in neck-and-neck battle

There is little separating St Anthony’s College, known as the “Westmoorings Tigers” and Naparima College as the teams are only separated by goal difference at the top of the standings after Round 14, the penultimate round of action, in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division, yesterday.

At St Anthony’s College Ground in Westmoorings, St Anthony’s and Presentation College San Fernando battled to an entertaining 3-3 draw. Presentation took the lead in the second minute when Darnell Hospedales scored a header from a corner kick. Two goals in the space of six minutes gave St Anthony’s a 2-1 lead. Firstly, Haile Beckles found the back of the net in the 11th minute, before Jodel Brown gave the “Tigers” the advantage in the 17th minute.

In the 60th minute, Pres equalised when Jordan Riley scored directly from a corner kick. However, St Anthony’s took two minutes to regain the lead when Tyrese Bailey ran up the right side to the byline and squared the ball to Beckles who found the roof of the net. Both goalkeepers made some brilliant saves in the second half. In the 83rd minute Jaiye Shepherd just got the ball over the goal line as the match finished 3-3 after it stuck in a puddle of water.

At the Queen’s Royal College Ground in St Clair, resurgent QRC and title contenders Naparima played to a 2-2 draw. Naparima got a double from Judah St Louis and the home team got goals from John Paul Rochford and Marc Robertson.

In other results, Trinity College (Moka) and Carapichaima East Secondary played to a 0-0 draw, St Benedict’s College upset Fatima College 2-1, Shiva Boys Hindu College eased to a 4-0 victory over Signal Hill Secondary, St Mary’s College and Trinty College East battled to a 1-1 draw and San Juan North defeated St Augustine Secondary 4-2.

The outcome of a protest by St Anthony’s against Shiva Boys for fielding an ineligible player earlier this season could not be confirmed by any official, from both the SSFL and Shiva Boys.