Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 08/Oct 05:07

Stingy 'Pres' defence meets prolific 'Saints' attack

THE defence of Presentation College San Fernando will be put to the test against the high-scoring outfit of St Mary's College in what is expected to be a fierce battle when the teams clash in round eight of the Secondary Schools Football League premier division, on October 8. All matches kick off at 3.30 pm. Third-placed Presentation and fourth-placed St Mary's will meet at the latter's school ground in St Clair. Presentation have only allowed four goals in six matches this campaign as their defence have made scoring difficult for opposing teams. On the other hand, St Mary's have been scoring goals for fun with 23 goals – the most by any team this season. Following a narrow 1-0 win over Queen's Royal College (QRC) in the last round, Presentation will try to keep pressure on first-placed Naparima and second-placed Fatima College. "Naps" will not play on October 8 as their match against St Benedict's College has been postponed. There was a fire on the St Benedict's compound last week and the school has not yet resumed physical classes. This has led to the postponement of the football match. If "Pres" win and Fatima drop points, the southerners will join Naparima on 18 points at the top of the standings. "We are confident, just taking one game at a time," Presentation coach Dunstan Williams said. "We understand that St Mary's has been scoring a lot of goals, so we have to pay attention to that and try to get our goal scorers to do their job." Isaiah "Baby Hulk" Jacob has netted ten of Presentation's 13 goals this year, but Williams said Jacob in not overwhelmed by the pressure to deliver every game. "He is in a good place (with) his confidence...you are always wary of the fact that you don't want to be dependent on one person alone. We are working behind the scenes on getting the other guys involved." Despite allowing just four goals this season, Williams said he wants more discipline at the back. "On a scale of one to ten, I will give them a six. (There) are some areas that we need to improve. I don't like the goals we conceded so far because, at the end of the day, I don't think the teams really broke us down to score. It was some lil defensive errors." In other round eight matches, second-placed Fatima will leapfrog Naparima and take the lead with a win over 12th-placed San Juan North Secondary. Fifth-placed QRC will aim to rebound against eighth-ranked St Augustine Secondary; Arima North (seventh) and St Anthony's College (ninth) will face off in a mid-table match; last-placed Carapichaima East will battle 13th-placed Signal Hill Secondary; Trinity College East (14th) play Malick Secondary (11th) in a contest between struggling teams; and Trinity College (tenth) will fancy their chances against 15th-placed Scarborough Secondary. Standings: Team*GP*W*D*L*GF*GA*GD*Pts Naparima*6*6*0*0*20*1*19*18 Fatima*6*5*1*0*19*8*11*16 Presentation (Sando)*6*5*0*1*13*4*9*15 St Mary's College*7*3*4*0*23*10*13*13 QRC*7*4*1*2*12*11*1*13 St Benedict's*6*4*0*2*16*8*8*12 Arima North*7*2*3*2*14*13*1*9 St Augustine*6*2*3*1*8*10*-2*9 St Anthony's*4*2*0*2*14*8*6*6 Trinity Moka*7*2*0*5*11*21*-10*6 Malick*6*1*2*3*13*14*-1*5 San Juan North*5*1*2*2*11*13*-2*5 Signal Hill*3*1*0*2*10*7*3*3 Trinity East*6*1*0*5*5*23*-18*3 Scarborough*7*0*2*5*7*24*-17*2 Carapichaima East*7*0*0*7*5*25*-20*0 Fixtures: Carapichaima East vs Signal Hill, Carapichaima East Trinity College East vs Malick, Trincity San Juan North vs Fatima, San Juan North Queen's Royal College vs St Augustine, QRC St Mary's vs Presentation College, St Mary's Trinity vs Scarborough, Trinity Arima North vs St Anthony's, Arima Velodrome The post Stingy 'Pres' defence meets prolific 'Saints' attack appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.