'Pres' held by St Augustine, stumble in SSFL premier division title race

SECONDARY Schools Football League (SSFL) national intercol holders Presentation College San Fernando (29 points) had a crucial slip in their chase for the 2024 SSFL premier division title on October 26 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by St Augustine Secondary (21 points) at the latter school's compound in St Augustine.

Playing in a rescheduled encounter, the "Pres Lions" had the chance to pull within four points of runaway leaders St Benedict's College (35 points) with a victory against the seventh-placed St Augustine.

However, the "Green Machine" proved to be a formidable opposition on their home turf, and the newly promoted school went to the halftime break with a 1-0 lead after a 41st-minute goal from Kirk Abraham.

Coming off a 2-0 loss to Benedict's in their previous game, Presentation just avoided a second straight defeat when Maliq Brathwaite netted in the 81st minute to earn them a share of the spoils.

With just two games left in the premier division season, though, Benedict's six-point advantage over the second-placed Fatima College and the third-placed Presentation (both 29 points) looks as good as gold.

In the other rescheduled encounter, four-time premier division champions Naparima College (22 points) had a bad day at the office when they were beaten 3-1 by north intercol holders St Anthony's College (24 points) at Lewis Street, San Fernando.

With a victory over reigning champs Fatima to their name earlier in the campaign, St Anthony’s can be more than a handful on their day. In this rescheduled fixture, the "Westmoorings Tigers" were too much for Naparima to handle as they stormed out to a 2-0 lead by halftime.

Attackers Jean-Marc Thomas and the impressive Andell Fraser gave the Tigers their first-half cushion, with the latter scoring his eighth goal of the season.

Early in the second half, Naparima's fortunes worsened when their captain and top-scorer Israel Joseph was denied from the penalty spot by custodian Josiah Morris.

St Anthony's went 3-0 up when Mordecai Ford found the back of the net, with Naparima getting a late consolation through talented forward Akiel Vesprey.

With the win, the Tigers bypassed Naparima to move to fifth on the 16-team table and level on points with the unbeaten Arima North Secondary. "Naps" slipped one spot to sixth.

SSFL premier division standings

Team*GP*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Pts

St Benedict's*13*11*2*0*27*7*20*35

Fatima*13*9*2*2*40*13*27*29

Presentation (San Fernando)*13*9*2*2*29*9*20*29

Arima North*12*6*6*0*22*6*16*24

St Anthony's College*13*8*0*5*27*16*11*24

Naparima*13*6*4*3*24*15*9*22

St Augustine*13*6*3*4*16*21*-5*21

Malick*13*5*2*6*27*28*-1*17

QRC*13*5*2*6*18*19*-1*17

San Juan North*13*4*1*8*18*23*-5*13

St Mary's College*13*4*1*8*14*27*-13*13

Signal Hill*11*2*4*5*18*25*-7*10

Trinity East*13*3*1*9*17*28*-11*10

Speyside*11*2*3*6*14*24*-10*9

Miracle Ministries PHS*13*2*1*10*8*41*-33*7

East Mucurapo*12*2*0*10*7*24*-17*6