DAVID SCARLETT
THE first two semifinalists of this season's Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division have been confirmed as Presentation College (San Fernando) and San Juan North Secondary won their respective games to earn their place in the last four with one game to spare on Saturday evening.
This year's SSFL Premiership format splits the regular league campaign into two groups where the top two in each group advance to the semifinals, and the winners to the final.
Both San Juan North and Presentation are level on 18 points at the top of Group B, nine points ahead of their nearest competitor, Trinity College East, which means neither team can be caught on the final match day.
Presentation earned their semifinal spot at Queen's Royal College (QRC) Ground where they comfortably humbled Kenwyne Jones' squad 2-0. Daniel Quashie opened the scoring for the visitors in the 25th minute when he made space for himself in the penalty area and smartly finished a well-timed pass from his team-mate, Isaiah Jacob.
The Tiger Tanks Cup champions had their lead doubled courtesy of an own-goal from QRC's Phillip Gray. The Royals defender attempted to clear the ball to safety from a corner kick, but he sliced it into his own net, to his despair.
Pres smartly implemented their game management tactics to hold on to their lead and claim another three points.
San Juan North also won away from home, edging past newcomers, Malick Secondary 2-1. The east-based outfit dug deep to earn their three points the hard way and ensure their stay at the summit of Group B.
The top two in the group remain unbeaten after six games this season and will face each other in the final group fixture, which will determine who tops the standings.
The winner of the group will face the runner-up of Group A and the second-placed team will battle against the Group A winners.
The other games in Group B saw Chaguanas North Secondary claim a 1-0 victory against Moruga Secondary, who are still without a win this season. In the north, Trinity College East defeated East Mucurapo Secondary 2-1 to jump to third in the standings.
The solitary Group A fixture on the day delighted Pleasantville Secondary fans as their school overcame St Augustine Secondary 3-0 to earn their first win of the season.
The final round of Group B matches will be played on October 15: Malick Secondary vs East Mucurapo Secondary, San Juan North vs Presentation, Moruga Secondary vs Mucurapo and Trinity East vs Chaguanas North. All matches will kick off at 3:30pm.
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