REIGNING Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) premier division champions Fatima College (ten points) will aim to put some distance between themselves and their competitors when they host San Juan North Secondary at Fatima Grounds, Mucurapo on September 25 in the fifth round of the 2024 league campaign.
In a rescheduled fixture on September 23, Fatima jumped to the premier division summit when they edged promoted team St Augustine Secondary by a 1-0 margin courtesy of a first-half goal from striker Luke Correia. Coach Hutson Charles wasn't totally pleased with his team's effort, but it's a result that saw them taking the premier division lead on goal difference ahead of south giants St Benedict's College (ten points).
Last season, despite being reduced to ten men for the latter part of their contest with San Juan, Fatima grabbed a 5-2 victory in Bourg Mulatresse to show their early title pedigree. They will hope for more of the same against the east zone team in their meeting this season.
St Benedict's, winners of the 2022 premier division title, will travel to Westmoorings for an intriguing clash with north zone intercol holders St Anthony's College (six points), who have lost two straight games after opening their campaign with victories over St Mary's College and East Mucurapo Secondary.
In the televised encounter, the fourth-placed Malick Secondary (eight points) will push to continue their unbeaten start to the season when they play Trinity College East (three points) at the Arima Velodrome. This match will commence at 3.30 pm, with all other matches scheduled to kick off at 4pm.
At Lewis Street, San Fernando, south zone powerhouse and four-time premier division champions Naparima College (seven points) will host an Arima North Secondary (eight points) team which is one of the remaining four unbeaten teams this season. In their last outing, Naparima were edged by Benedict's, and they are likely to face another tough test against the "Dial Dynamos" who copped the east zone intercol title last season. Naparima are currently in fifth, with Arima leading the charge of the east zone teams in third spot.
In Tobago, there will be a pair of games for football lovers to savour. The sixth-placed Signal Hill Secondary (seven points) will host national intercol holders Presentation College San Fernando (six points) at the former school's ground, with the 15th-placed Speyside Secondary going after their first win of the campaign when they face St Augustine at the Speyside recreation ground.
With St Augustine (three points) just two points ahead of Speyside in 13th on the 16-team table, their clash in the Tobago countryside is expected to be a keenly contested one.
After their surprise 1-0 victory over Queen's Royal College on September 21, newly promoted team Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School will try to land another scalp when they host the cellar-placed Mucurapo in Edinburgh, Chaguanas as both teams continue their quest to stay clear of the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, at QRC grounds in St
