Queen's Royal College showed true grit to end their four-match losing streak when they pulled off a last ditch 2-2 draw away to Fatima College in the BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League North Zone at Mucurapo Road yesterday.
Malick Secondary Comprehensive also remain on even keel with St Anthony's College at the top of the "North" standings with 16 points and identical goal differential, after completing a 4-1 whipping of Trinity College at St Mary's College's Serpentine Road Ground, Port of Spain, partly thanks to another Akeem "Crouch" Bailey double.
Yesterday, Fatima asserted themselves early and attacked at will for virtually all of the opening period. The pressure told as early as the fifth minute, when Chad De Freitas blasted an attempted clearance by QRC defender Shabaka Mahluli past custodian Yannick Duchaussee for a 1-0 Fatima lead.
The porous QRC defence were overworked, with national under-15 striker Jerrel Britto being successfully isolated up front by the Fatima backline. The "Royalians", apart from the rare stab at goal- the best such was a tame pat by Britto at Fatima goalie Christopher Coker-were busy defending in the first period.
Fatima doubled their lead through the speedy Andrew Tinto, who beat Duchaussee in the 39th with a first-time finish after QRC failed to clear a cross through their six-metre box from Kaejay Ramoro.
QRC had much of the same when the second period started, but absorbed the early pressure. As the game wore on and Fatima grew tired, the Royalians grew bolder in attack, which bore fruit in the 63rd. Britto was freed up on the left with an incisive pass and was brought down by Brenton Balbosa in the area. Keron Doldron stepped up and fired past Coker to cut QRC's deficit to a single goal.
Fatima seemed to be waltzing to full points when QRC's pressure and a stroke of luck combined in injury time to Balbosa's dismay, and the visitors' joy.
The other North Zone encounter yesterday, which featured defending North Zone champs Mucurapo Secondary Comprehensive and Diego Martin Secondary, could not be played due to a deficit of officials at Diego Martin's ground.
17