Isaiah Lee scored his second hat-trick of the campaign as two-time defending champions Naparima College crushed cellar-placed St Benedict’s College to get back in the hunt for the title in the 15-team 2016 Shell/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League Premier Division yesterday.
With leaders Shiva Boys Hindu College on a bye, second placed Presentation College of San Fernando and Naparima had chances to go top and close the gap respectively.
However it was Naparima, playing at its Lewis Street, San Fernando home ground which took full advantage and led by Lee’s goals in the 16th, 71st and 78th for his second treble of the season, after his first came against Fatima College to lead all scorers with 12, which coasted to the comfortable win.
Renaldo Francois also chipped in with a double in the 45th and 62nd minute for the Angus Eve-coached unit to move to 23 points from ten matches, the same as Presentation College and two adrift of leaders Shiva Boys.
However, while Shiva Boys and Naparima have four matches left each to play, Presentation only has three in the race for the Premier Division crown and the two Shell Cup spots.
Up at Trinity College Ground, Moka, Maraval, Presentation needed a 90th minute equalizer from in-form James Alex Lee-Yaw to salvage a 1-1 draw with lowly Trinity which led through a 36th minute Jevon Ward strike.
In other matches, Tyrese Bailey scored a double as St Anthony’s College ended a three-match losing streak with a 4-0 home win over Pleasantville and was joined on 19 points by North Zone rival, St Mary’s College which stunned host Signal Hill 2-1 thanks to a Trey La Motte, 67th minute penalty.
Down at the other end of the table, St Augustine moved clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 home victory over East zone rival, San Juan North; Fyzabad slammed Fatima 4-1 behind a Shaquille Louison hat-trick, and East Mucurapo and Queen’s Royal College, battled to a 0-0 deadlock. Matches resume on Saturday.
STANDINGS
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Shiva Boys 10 8 1 1 20 9 25
Naparima 10 7 2 1 22 8 23
Pres (San F’do) 11 7 2 2 19 10 23
St Anthony’s 10 6 1 3 26 15 19
St Mary’s 11 5 4 2 13 13 19
St Augustine 11 4 5 2 11 9 17
Fyzabad Sec 11 4 2 5 20 20 14
San Juan North 10 3 2 5 15 15 11
Signal Hill 10 3 2 5 11 12 11
East Mucurapo 10 3 2 5 11 13 11
Trinity Moka 10 3 2 5 5 16 11
QRC 10 2 4 4 7 8 10
P’ville 10 2 3 5 10 17 9
Fatima 10 2 2 6 12 19 8
St Benedict’s 10 0 2 8 4 21 2
RESULTS
East Mucurapo 0 vs QRC 0
Trinity Moka 1 (Jevon Ward 36th) vs Presentation (San F’do) 1 (James Alex Lee-Yaw 90th)
St Augustine 1 (Anthony Samuel 55th) vs San Juan North
St Mary’s 2 (Daniel Conocchiari 4th, Trey La Motte 67th pen) vs Signal Hill 1 (Omarley James 20th)
Naparima 5 (Isaiah Lee 16th, 71st, 78th, Renaldo Francois 45th, 62nd) vs St Benedict’s 0
St Anthony’s 4 (Tyrese Bailey 2, Mark Robinson, o.g) vs Pleasantville 0
Fyzabad 4 (Shaquille Louison 23rd, 38th, 70th, Alleric Williams 44th) vs Fatima 1 (Justin Araujo-Wilson 68th)
SCORERS
12—Isaiah Lee
5—Haile Beckles, Zion Mc Leod, Alleric Williams, James Alex Lee-Yaw, Shaquille Louison
4—Ken Bhola, Rahim Gordon, Kathon St Hillaire, Akil Frank, Junior Assoon, Renaldo Boyce, James Alex Lee-Yaw, Tyrese Spicer, Omarley James, Trey La Motte, Anthony Samuel
3—Kareem Riley, Tyrell Baptiste, Jerome Cyrus, Stephon Marcano, Yohannes Richardson, Micah Lansiquot, Trey La Motte, Tyrell Cameron, N’Kosi Salandy, Che Benny, Akinola Gregory, Ronaldo Edwards, Nion Lammy, Justin Araujo-Wilson, Daniel Conocchiari, Renaldo Francois, Tyrese Bailey
17