Arima North Secondary has joined Siparia West Secondary and St Mary’s College in the Big Five playoffs in the Boys’ Championship Division of the Tiger Tanks-sponsored Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) despite Tuesday’s 1-1 tie with Manzanilla Secondary at the Sangre Grande Recreation Ground.
Needing just a point to seal their berth into the playoffs, the Arima lads got an early item from Jeremy Joseph in the sixth minute, but Manzanilla got the equaliser in the 20th minute from Tevin Pantor for a share of the points.
Coach Lyndon “Chubby” Andrews’ main concern now will be how they handle the winners of the other zones. From the playoff, the top three teams will advance to the Premiership Division next year while the bottom three teams in the premiership will be demoted to the championship for 2023.
These three teams will be the last-place finishers in Group A and B, as well as the losing team from a play-off between the second-to-last teams from each group.
Last year, a lapse in concentration by his players prevented what they felt should have been a certain return to the SSFL top-flight football league for Arima North, who is known popularly as the “Dial Dynamos” but Chubby assured that this year, they will be hoping to go all the way.
Arima North needed just a point to ensure their entry into the big five playoffs as they entered the match with 20 points, which was a significant lead over their closest rival, El Dorado East, which had 14 points. Now they’ve moved to 21 points while El Dorado’s 2-1 triumph over Holy Cross College has pushed them to 17 points.
On Monday, St Mary’s extended its lead to 25 points atop the standings in the North Zone, courtesy of a 7-2 victory over Tranquility Secondary. With that advantage, the ‘Saints’ as St Mary’s are called, cannot be reached by second-placed Trinity College (Moka) who pulled off a 2-0 victory over Mucurapo West on Monday to move to 17 points from nine matches. With one more round of matches to go, they can only reach 20 points.
Tranquillity is third on the table with 10 points.
Meanwhile, in the South Zone, Point Fortin East thrashed St Madeleine, 5-0.
RESULTS
Tuesday
Arima North 1 (Jeremy Joseph 6th) vs Manzanilla Sec- 1 (Tevin Pantor 20th)
El Dorado East- 2 (Yanis Chai-Hong, Cameron Gulston) vs Holy Cross- 1
Valencia Sec- 5 (Darion Bridgemohan 4, Jequan Browne) vs Five Rivers Sec- 4
Monday
North Zone
Diego Martin Central Sec 2 vs Blanchisseuse Secondary 3
Mucurapo West Secondary 0 vs Trinity College (Moka) 2
St Mary’s College 7 vs Tranquility Secondary 2
South Zone
P/Fortin East Secondary5 vs Ste Madeleine Secondary 0
Standings
Central Zone
Schools*P*W*L*D*GF*GA*GD*PTS
1*Presentation College*3*3*0*0*16*4*+12*9
2*Miracle Ministries*3*2*1*0*22*3*+19*6
3*Couva East Secondary*3*1*2*0*10*20*-10*3
4*ASJA Boys, Charlieville*3*0*3*0*4*25*-21*0
East Zone
Schools*P*W*L*D*GF*GA*GD*PTS
1*Arima North *9*6*0*3*22*10*+12*21
2*El Dorado East *9*5*2*2*20*17*+3*17
3*Manzanilla*10*3*4*3*24*21*+3*12
4*Valencia *9*3*3*3*24*24*0*12
5*Five Rivers*10*3*6*1*22*25*-3*10
6*Holy Cross *9*2*7*0*10*25*-15*6
North Zone
Schools*P*W*L*D*GF*GA*GD*PTS
1*St Mary’s College*9*8*0*1*33*10*+23*25
2*Trinity Moka*9*5*2*2*16*12*+4*17
3*Tranquility *8*3*4*1*19*22*-3*10
4*Mucurapo West*9*3*6*0*13*20*-7*9
5*Blanchisseuse *7*2*3*2*17*20*-3*8
6*D/ Martin Central *8*1*7*0*13*24*-11*3
South Zone
Schools*P*W*L*D*GF*GA*GD*PTS
1*Siparia West*7*6*0*1*39*9*+30*19
2*P/Fortin East*8*5*1*2*53*10*+43*17
3*Ste Madeleine*7*3*3*1*32*18*+14*10
4*P/Town West*7*1*6*0*6*45*-39*3
5*Fyzabad Anglican*7*1*6*0*10*54*-44*3
Tobago Zone Standings 2022
Schools*P*W*L*D*GF*GA*GD*PTS
1*Bishop’s High*5*3*0*2*14*6*+8*11
2*Scarborough*5*4*1*0*17*7*+10*12
3*Roxborough*5*2*1*2*13*8*+5*8
4*Signal Hill*6*2*1*3*11*9*+2*9
5*Mason Hall *3*1*2*1*6*3*+3*4
6*Pentecostal L/L*4*0*4*0*1*15*-14*0
7*Goodwood *4*0*4*0*3*20*-17*0
