Naparima takes title defence season down to final game

SSFL

Naparima takes title defence season down to final game

By Paul-Andre Walker October 28, 2019

The Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division will possibly not be decided until the final round of games as two teams, defending champions Naparima College, and last year’s runners-up, Presentation College could still claim top honours.

Naparima College, with a game to go in the Premier Division, are on top of the table with 33 points, six points ahead of third-place Presentation College, who have a game in hand.

Second place, St Anthony’s College, who also have a game to go are already out of the running as they, on 29 points, can only get to a maximum of 32.

Naparima can get to a maximum of 36 points, the same as Presentation and the two are separated by a goal difference of just one, the former holding the advantage with a +21 goal difference.

The precarious position of the defending champions has been this way all season, with Presentation failing on a couple of occasions to make their position as potential champions more sure.

Last Wednesday, the two featured in a goalless draw while on Saturday, Presentation failed to find a win for the second game in a row, playing out a 1-1 draw against Malick Secondary, who have only just secured themselves a second season in the top flight. Malick lie 12^th in the 15-team table on 11 points with Trinity College Moka on seven points with a game to go and St Mary’s College on four, the teams already relegated in 14^th and 15^th places.

Speyside Secondary, who occupy 13^th place, are just over the line with their 11 points.

Naparima, just as they did last season, kept pressure on their rivals by winning at the right time, on this occasion, a 1-0 clipping of San Juan North Secondary proving just enough.

In other results on Saturday, St Anthony’s College beat Carapichaima East Secondary, 4-2, while St Augustine Secondary lost out to East Mucurapo Secondary in a 3-2 affair.

Speyside ensured their survival with a 1-0 win over St Mary’s College, while Trinity College East visited neighbours Trinity College Moka, where they earned a 1-0 result, and St Benedict’s were winners over Pleasantville Secondary by the same margin.

See the latest standings below:

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	+-	Pts
1	Naparima College	13	10	3	0	31	10	21	33
2	St Anthony's College	13	9	2	2	39	17	22	29
3	Presentation College	12	8	3	1	27	7	20	27
4	East Mucurapo Secondary	13	8	3	2	30	13	17	27
5	Carapichaima East Secondary	13	6	4	3	24	20	4	22
6	San Juan North Secondary	13	6	2	5	30	11	19	20
7	Queen's Royal College	11	6	1	4	19	22	-3	19
8	St Benedict's College	13	5	1	7	15	21	-6	16
9	Trinity College East	12	4	3	5	14	17	-3	15
10	Pleasantville Secondary	13	4	2	7	15	18	-3	14
11	St Augustine Secondary	13	3	4	6	29	27	2	13
12	Malick Secondary	13	3	2	8	19	27	-8	11
13	Speyside Secondary	12	3	2	7	15	34	-19	11
14	Trinity College Moka	13	2	1	10	16	40	-24	7
15	St Mary's College	13	1	1	11	5	44	-39	4

Paul-Andre Walker

Paul-Andre is the Managing Editor at SportsMax.tv. He comes to the role with almost 20 years of experience as journalist. That experience includes all facets of media. He began as a sports Journalist in 2001, quickly moving into radio, where he was an editor before becoming a news editor and then an entertainment editor with one of the biggest media houses in the Caribbean.

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