Quinn Rodney netted a hat-trick to lead Shiva Boys Hindu College to a comfortable 5-0 mauling of Queen’s Royal College to move closer to capturing the Shell/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League Premier Division crown, yesterday.
The Hayden Ryan-coached Shiva Boys were heavily fancied to gather all three points at David Williams Recreation Ground, Penal and after some early resistance from QRC, Junior Assoon broke the deadlock in the 21st minute while Rodney got his first six minutes later, followed by a strike from Ronaldo Edwards in the 29th for a 3-0 lead at the half-time whistle.
After the resumption, Shiva Boys continued to dominate with Rodney the main beneficiary with further strikes in the 67th and 87th to seal the lopsided win and improved his team to 28 points from 11 matches at the top of the 15-team table, two ahead of Presentation College of San Fernando which got a 40th minute goal from Nion Lammy to eke out a 1-0 win over San Juan North Secondary at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre.
Down at St Anthony’s College, Morne Coco Road, Westmoorings, the “Westmooring Tigers” put a serious dent in two-time defending champions, Naparima College, hopes of a third straight crown with a 4-2 win.
National Under-17 defender Derron John scored two penalties for the “Tigers” while Tyrese Bailey and Shem Clauzel, the son of former national player Ian “The Dread Dribbler” Clauzel, added one each to carry their team to 22 points, one behind Naparima which got its goals from Ronaldo Mc Intosh and Isaiah Lee.
Elswhere, Signal Hill Secondary blanked St Augustine Secondary 2-0 at home thanks to a double from Akiel Frank, in the 11th and 41st as the visitors had main striker Anthony Samuel, red carded in the 43rd, followed by coach Adrian Romain ten minutes into the second-half.
Also yesterday, Trinity College Moka and East Mucurapo Secondary drew 1-1, Pleasantville Secondary and Fatima College also battled to a 1-1 draw, and St Mary’s College was held goalless by cellar-placed St Benedict’s College.
Looking ahead to the closing stages of the league, Shiva Boys have an easy schedule as they face St Mary’s, Pleasantville and Fatima in their remaining matches; Naparima meets QRC, East Mucurapo and St Augustine; Presentation tackles St Mary’s and Pleasantville while St Anthony’s come up against St Benedict’s, San Juan North and QRC.
At the end of the season, the top two teams will qualify to the inaugural Shell Cup competition while the bottom three teams will be relegated back to their respective zonal Championship Divisions.
Results
Shiva Boys 5 (Quinn Rodney 23rd, 67th, 87th, Junior Assoon 21st, Ronaldo Edwards 29th) vs QRC 0
Trinity Moka 1 (Isaiah McClean) vs East Mucurapo 1 (Jelani Ferary)
Presentation 1 (Nion Lammy 40th) vs San Juan North 0
Signal Hill 2 (Akiel Frank 11th, 41st) vs St Augustine 0
St Mary’s 0 vs St Benedict’s 0
St Anthony’s 4 (Derron John 2, Tyrese Bailey, Shem Clauzel) vs Naparima 2 (Isaiah Lee, Ronaldo Mc Intosh)
Pleasantville 1 ( Denzil Marcano) vs Fatima 1 (Justin Araujo-Wilson)
Fyzabad - bye
STANDINGS
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Shiva Boys 11 9 1 1 25 9 28
Pres (S/F'do) 12 8 2 2 20 10 26
Naparima 11 7 2 2 24 12 23
St Anthony's 11 7 1 3 30 17 22
St Mary's 12 5 5 2 13 13 20
St Augustine 12 4 5 3 11 11 17
Signal Hill 11 4 2 5 13 12 14
Fyzabad Sec 11 4 2 5 20 20 14
E/Mucurapo 11 3 3 5 12 14 12
Trinity Moka 11 3 3 5 6 17 12
San Juan N 11 3 2 6 15 16 11
QRC 11 2 4 5 7 13 10
P’ville 11 2 4 5 11 18 10
Fatima 11 2 3 6 13 20 9
St Benedict's 11 0 3 8 4 21 3
RELATED NEWS
Rodney scores hat-trick, Shiva hammer QRC
By Jelani Beckles (NEWSDAY).
QUINN Rodney ensured Shiva Boys stayed on top of the Premier Division in the Shell/ First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League as his hat-trick led the leaders to a 5-0 victory over Queen’s Royal College (QRC) at the Penal Recreation Ground yesterday.
QRC, which have showed their prowess in defence this season could not stop Shiva Boys yesterday as after 29 minutes the Royalians had already allowed three goals. Junior Asson got the ball rolling for the southerners in the 21st minute before Rodney netted his first goal of the match in the 23rd.
Before the half hour mark Ronaldo Edwards (29th minute) got his name on the scoresheet as QRC looked for answers.
Rodney made it 4-0 for Shiva Boys in the 67th minute, before completing his hat-trick in the 87th minute. The victory meant Shiva Boys maintained their two-point lead at the top of the standings. Presentation San Fernando moved from third to second with a 1-0 win over San Juan North at Guaracara Park in Pointea- Pierre. Nion Lammy’s 40th minute strike gave Presentation the victory.
At St Anthony’s Ground in Westmoorings, St Anthony’s got past defending champions Naparima 4-2. Scoring for the “Tigers” of St Anthony’s were Derron John (two penalties), Haile Beckles and Shem Clauzel, while Ronaldo McIntosh and Isaiah Lee were on target for Naparima. St Anthony’s remained in fourth place but narrowed the gap on Naparima which dropped from second to third place on the standings.
In other matches, Signal Hill defeated St Augustine 2-0, Pleasantville and Fatima played to a 1-1 draw, St Mary’s and St Benedict’s battled to a 0-0 stalemate, while Trinity and East Mucurapo had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Fyzabad had a bye yesterday.
‘Tigers’ clobber Naparima at home in SSFL
...victory keeps them in title race
By Sean Taylor (Express).
St Anthony's College kept their title hopes alive in the Shell/First Citizens Secondary Schools Football League yesterday, romping to a 4-2 win against rivals Naprima College on their home turf at Westmoorings.
A double from Derron John and one goal each from Shem Clauzel and Haile Beckles was enough to help the “Tigers” to 4-2 win, despite Isaiah Lee's late cracker from distance, which gave “Naps” hope in the dying stages.
Both teams needed a win to keep within touching distance of Shiva Boys Hindu College, who were routing Queen's Royal College at Irwin Park, Siparia, and the pace of play was breathless from the beginning, in the scorching afternoon sun.
“Naps” wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet when Ronaldo McIntosh tapped a ball in from point blank range in the eighth minute, after Andre Raymond's penetrating run on the left created the easy chance.
Five minutes later, Renaldo Francois had a crack from distance, but his effort was redirected out for a corner by Elijah Shade in the St Anthony's goal.
The hosts almost levelled the score right away when moments later, Tyrese Bailey blew his way past Khris Stroud to square for Beckles, whose shot was stopped on the line, seemingly by the left arm of Tyrike Andrews. The shouts for a penalty by fans behind the goal were ignored by the referee.
The penalty shout was a bad omen for the Naps' defence however, and McIntosh turned from hero to villain when he handled the ball in the penalty area in the 28th minute.
Up stepped centre back John, who dispatched the spot kick to level up. The moment of madness would strike the reigning champions once more two minutes later; this time, Stroud pole-axed Bailey to concede the second penalty in two minutes.
Bailey again buried his spot kick - going to Levi Fernandez's right each time - to send the visitors in front.
The match resumed at full speed ahead after the resumption, and Naparima should have equalised; but Francois hit the bar from close range with an open goal.
Clauzel sent the hosts 3-1 up when he bundled the ball over the line after Krishon Alexander's long run on the left set him up after ping-ponging its way through a crowd of defenders. Beckles then scored a soft fourth as John's free kick was nodded into his path by Bailey, who was putting in a match-of-the-match performance.
The goal of the match would come too little, too late, however as the SSFL's top-scorer Isaiah Lee cut inside from the left, and unleashed a heat-seeker which left Shade rooted to the spot. The “Tigers” managed to hold on to win, despite a massive six minutes of added on time played due to the numerous stoppages yesterday.
17