ST MARY’S won for the first time this season, defending Central Zone champs Presentation were beaten in their opening match while Arima, Scarborough and Pleasantville remain atop their divisions as a full slate of matches in the British Gas Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) yesterday. Dale Perez was the hero for St Mary’s, scoring in the 59th minute as the Saints edged Malick 1-0 at the CIC Grounds, St Clair while QRC strolled past Mucurapo 3-1 at the QRC Grounds. But Fatima remained atop the North Zone with a 4-2 whipping of Diego Martin at the Fatima Grounds. In an evening marred by dubious decisions, reigning champs St Anthony’s supporters of found solace in their team’s performance as they strolled to a comfortable 5-1 win over league debutants Morvant/Laventille at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

Initially feeling out each other, the “Westmoorings Tigers” began to pick up their rhythm and after near misses, including a shot which struck the uprights, took the lead in the 35th minute. Hardworking midfielder Kevon Neaves collected a pass from Christian Cabral on the edge of the area and rippling the net with the goalkeeper Neil Fortune at his mercy. Four minutes from half-time Neaves got his second, shaking off his defender and leaving the keeper stranded with a low shot. Striker Dwight Critchlow added to his team’s tally in the 67th minute, slotting the ball past an advancing Fortune in goal, but Morvant/Laventille pulled back one five minutes later as Rennie Castillo put a well hit free kick over the St Anthony’s wall and into the back of the net. Despite their improved mood, a 79th minute goal from substitute Shabazz Best, who replaced the distracted Cabral, and a cheeky finish by veteran defender Julius James in the 84th sealed the affair for the Tigers.

Pleasantville are the only unbeaten team left in the South Zone, and also kept their lead intact after a 3-1 win over cellar-placed Presentation in the second match of a double-header at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella. Derron Matthews slammed a double with Denwin Noel adding the other for Pleasantville while Christopher Alves got the lone item for “Pres.” St Benedict’s were held to a 1-1 draw by Fyzabad in the opener while defending champs Princes Town were humbled 1-0 at home to Vessigny with Timmy Hernandez hitting the winner in the 56th. Naparima are third on the table following a 1-0 win over Mayaro at the Mayaro Recreation Ground with veteran midfielder Brenton De Leon the goal-getter. Scarborough registered their second straight win with a narrow 2-1 triumph over Roxborough in the second of back-to-back matches at Shaw Park. Keon Morris, in the 65th, and Garfield Boxhill in the 80th struck for the 2002 Zonal princes while a penalty from Devion Gray four minutes from time was too little too late for Roxborough.

Elizabeth’s defeated Bishop’s 4-2 in the day’s earlier matchup. Devon King netted a second-half winner for the “Dial Dynamos” Arima as they edged a tough St Augustine 2-1 at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar, Arima. King had earlier given the hosts the lead before Shane Calderon equalised minutes before the halftime interval. The “Blue Thunder” El Dorado and St George’s also stayed joint top with Arima in the East after both recorded 2-1 victories over San Juan and Hillview respectively. A second half striker from Dern Dyer gave Tabaquite a 1-0 win over Union Claxton Bay in Central Zone action while Trivine Sobers got his name on the scoresheet as Carapichaima edged Presentation 1-0 at the Presentation Grounds.

Trinidad and Tobago’s young women volleyballers will start their senior regional campaign today in the Dominican Republic where the western hemisphere’s best eight teams are vying for places in the World Cup competition in Japan from November 1 to 30. The TT’s team comprises most of the players who retained the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) Junior Championships recently in Martinique. Led by Aisha Sealy, they will do battle with Canada in their Group “A” opening round fixture at 2 pm. They are bracketed with host and newly-crowned Pan-American women’s champion team Dominican Republic, which will take on Puerto Rico in the other first round encounter from 8 pm.

In the Group “B” matches, Pan-Am’s runners-up Cuba will do battle with Central American champion Costa Rica from 2 pm while Pan-Am bronze medallist USA will take on Mexico from 8 pm. Tomorrow, TT will play Puerto Rico from 2 pm and will complete the preliminary round tomorrow against Dominican Republic at 8 pm. The men’s NORCECA championship is scheduled for Sept. 23-28 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. The eight teams vying for the men’s NORCECA crown include: Barbados, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and the United States.

The Central Football Association will host their Knock-out Final today between top teams Las Lomas United and Couva Players United at the Woodford Lodge Ground in Chaguanas. The finalists are currently first and second respectively in the standings after the first round of matches in the Super Industrial Services (SIS) sponsored league competition. Today from 3.30 pm they will be bidding for the first prize of the Pro Sport Trophy, $2,000 and gold medals. Runners-up will collect $1,000 and silver medals. The losing semi-finalists took home $500 each. Door prizes are up for grabs today and general admission is $5.

THE old Iron Horse, Chanticleer, will have to wait another day to join that $1 million club. This popular ten-year-old gelding owned by David Ojar, could only finish one from last in yesterday’s feature Stud Farm Association National Stakes over 1800 metres at Santa Rosa Park, Arima. Phantom Menace was brought with a well-timed stretch run to just get his head in front of triple crown winner of two years ago Carnival Messiah in a thrilling finish, with last year’s derby winner Millenium Reign in third.

Punto A Punto led the eight-horse field from the off and set off to make it all, but was struggling at the 600 metres mark when jockey Ricky Jadoo sent the Messiah into the lead. All this time the Iron Horse was in mid-division but definitely going no where, while Millenium Reign who was beaten for early gradually made up ground, but could not catch the first two.  Maid Of Honour also ran well to get fourth. Carnival Messiah led the pack into the stretch and looked all over a winner until rider Jody Arneaud brought Phantom Menace to pounce and steal the winner’s Purse of $36,000. Chanticleer needed to finish first or second to reach the $1 million earnings mark.

Ruby Rich was a shock winner of the Happy Hill “B” Stud Optional Claiming over 1350 metres to reward backers with $20.00 and $5.10 on the tote.
Venezuelan jockey Carlos Marquez riding here for only the second time landed a double on the day’s ten-race programme. Also scoring doubles in the saddle were apprentice Sheldon Rodrigo and Rajpaul Rajkumar, while popular owner-trainer-breeder Maniram “Boboy” Maharaj was the only man to saddle two winners. Dividends were good throughout, but turfites had to wait until the last two races for a superfecta over $1,000. The Phantom Menace, Carnival Messiah, Millenium Reign, Maid of Honour combination rewarded turfites with a $1,086.50 superfecta, while the Lady Rossie, Super Grey, Wild Life, Joan Of Arc quartet paid $1,360.00. Next race day is September 24, when Top Of The Class attempts to emulate stablemate Carnival Messiah in clinching the triple crown by winning the Blue Riband event, the Royal Oak Derby over 2000 metres.

KERTSON MANSWELL, recent recipient of the Humming Bird Medal (Silver) and silver medallist in the Pan Am Games is seeing gold in next year’s Athens Olympics. Manswell made his intentions known at a cocktail reception held to honour him and world rated sprinter Darryl Brown and other outstanding Tobago athletes at the Goodwood Secondary School on Friday night. It was learnt, at this function, that Brown also has Tobago connections since his mother, Marilyn Brown, is from Roxborough, east Tobago. Manswell, who professes to live by the motto “failure is not an option,” acknowledges that his job had only just begun since his dream was to compete and be successful in the 2004 Athens Games. 

“All the medals that I got before, to me are like nothing because my dream, leaving Tobago and going to Trinidad, is the 2004 Athens Games. Some may say that I’m cocky and I am boasting but I know what I am capable of and with God by my side, I know that all things are possible,” Manswell said. The Pembroke-born heavyweight fighter expressed his pleasure to be able to share his success with his supporters but disclosed that he was not contented with the silver medal he earned in  Santa Domingo at the Pan Am Games. “Everyone said ‘Hey you already got the silver medal just relax’ but they didn’t know that silver was not really what I wanted. I got up and I started fighting again. I just want to show you that even though you fall you can just dust off and go again,” Manswell said. Kertson also visited several primary schools on the island and made a courtesy call on Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary, Orville London at his office in Calder Hall, Scarborough.

PEPSI Hills United moved into a challenging position in the Warner’s Group of Companies-sponsored Tobago Football Association Semi-Professional League with a superb 3-1 victory over Bethel United. Leston Winchester opened the scoring in Tuesday’s match at Canaan No 2 ground. Eustace Stewart made it 2-0 for Hills before Curtis Winchester scored for Bethel to reduce the lead. But any hope Bethel had of a revival was dashed when Burton Alexander fired in the third for the Hills lads. Roxborough Lakers shut out Mason Hall Police Youth Club 3-0 in Sports and Games “A” Conference action at Dusty Park. Kwesi Beckles banged in a double for the winners, while Dyke Reid got the other goal. DSX Young Hearts were default winners over Stag Uprising in the “B” Conference fixture, when the latter team’s jerseys arrived late.

NORTH EAST Stars will try to bridge the gap with second-placed W Connection in today’s feature match of the T&T Pro League. Stars are third on the standings with 26 points, five behind Connection and will be looking to continue their impressive form this season against the Savonetta outfit at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.`Left-footed strikers Jerren Nixon and Randolph Jerome will again lead the attack for the Sangre Grande-based Stars, while Connection welcomes back captain Reynold Carrington, midfielders Silvio Spann and Stokely Mason, as well as striker Kendall Davis, who were on national senior and Under-23 duties last week. CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh are comfortably placed atop the table with 39 points from 15 matches, and are virtually guaranteed three more against the season’s “whipping boys” Tobago United at the Roxborough Sporting Complex. An added incentive for the crowd will be the presence of Jabloteh’s goalkeeper and captain Kelvin Jack and right-back Cyd Gray, who both grew up and began their career in the district.

But Jabloteh will see Jack, reserve goalkeeper Daurance Williams, defenders Nigel Daniel and Ronald Primus, midfielders Travis Mulraine, Josh Johnson, Michael Celestine, Otis Seaton (Aurtis Whitley), in addition to strikers Devon Mitchell and Cornell Glen back in the fold after their exploits with the national teams away to the Bahamas (U-23s) and Morocco (senior) respectively. The “Stallions” Caledonia AIA have also been made to toil for any success this year, and will be put to the sword against the steady Defence Force at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya while the “Eastern Lions” Joe Public travel to the Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar to face Arima Fire. All matches kick off at 4 pm with the exception of the all-South contest between South West Institute of Football (SWIF) and South Starworld Strikers, which begins at 5 pm at the Palo Seco Recreation Ground.

PORT-OF-SPAIN Education District made a clean sweep of the honours in the opening competition of the new Bermudez National Primary Schools Football League. The league was launched on Friday in brilliant sunshine at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Balmain, Couva with eight districts participating in the march past parade of teams. The districts involved this year are Port-of-Spain, St George East; North East; Caroni; Victoria; St Patrick; South East and Tobago. Taking the salute on Friday was Claire Matthais, Schools Supervisor II, Caroni District; Ivor Niles, chairman of the National Primary Schools Football League and a Schools Supervisor in the PoS District; Trevalyn Walkes, Promotions Officer, Bermudez and Reeza Burke, Public Relations Officer of Bermudez. John Poon Ting, former secretary-treasurer of the league and now an advisor appointed by the Football Federation explained that the league has been in existence for more than a decade and over the years received the sponsorship of CLICO, Rossi and more recently KFC.

He said this year Bermudez have stepped in and the league was grateful for all the assistance they have received for the two and a half month competition to find islandwide boys and girls champion. He said schools in the various districts will compete to find zonal winners who will then come up against the other district champions in the national tournament to be run by the NPSFL. Defending boys champions are VOS Government School of Gasparillo while St Martin’s of Port-of-Spain are last year’s winners of the girls category. Reeza Burke, an outstanding table tennis player who has been with Bermudez for the past three years pointed out that the company has always shown an interest in getting involved in sporting activities of children since they formed a large part of the clientele for their biscuit products. He disclosed that initially a sponsorship of $1,000,000 has been offered to the NPSFL in the first year with the option of renewing the contract next year.

TO MARK the end of the hope for any success in the sport of cricket and football (primary) and swimming; netball; basketball and rugby (secondary) a recent programme of events celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Sporting Pot-hound’s Flying Circus, a clearance sale is being held to get rid of anything and everything not used in the season. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as there will not be another successful sports  retrospective season for many a year God willing, or until one of the current members of our sports administrators should God forbid, die, or set off ‘round the world and not come back.

The following selection of choice lots will give some idea of the range of the whole catalogue available.
1. A dead parrot, due to his leaking ways on West Indies Cricket Board subterfuge.
2. Another dead parrot, being the stand-in used for the dead parrot in lot one, in case the main dead parrot should fall to pieces during recording. He was only found out because the Guyanese just can’t keep a secret.
3. A live parrot, which was on standby during the filming of the Dead Parrot sketch, in case both dead parrots should prove unsatisfactory, and another should have to be killed to provide a fresh dead parrot, though luckily this was only necessary once when one of the West Indies players interviewed expressed his dissatisfaction with the late hours kept by Brian Lara in New Zealand.
4. A dead sheep, yet another loyal West Indian fan who cannot sleep at night, and resorts to killing a sheep rather than counting one.
5. Another 500 dead sheep, as more people lose sleep when it is revealed that Trinidad and Tobago cricket has slumped to the same depths as the West Indies team. Particularly after a number of current Test players are seen at several Carnival fetes.
6. A letter in French, addressed to the makers of Caribbean Football, or rather CONCACAF and purporting to be from the genuine Mrs Strike, the widow of a fan during the Strike Squad days, a chap who spent all his hard earnings on supporting and watching the Trinidad and Tobago team perform.
He forsook his family, he forsook his children, eventually he lost his job, and then when he paid for a ticket bought from a normal purchasing location, he was denied entry on November 19, and in frustration, drank gramoxone.
His wife is now claiming damages in the region of $1,000,000 for maliciously causing the death of her husband. The letter says: “I do not mind if you pay me in new or old money — just pay me as soon as possible.” Maybe she was referring to the plans to make larger sums in the upcoming World Cup campaigns.
7. A letter from the makers of Caribbean Football to Mme Strike admitting the malicious intent, but claiming that they had already had letters from five other widows of Mr Strike, and refusing to pay out to anymore. It could be coincidence that so many similar cases still exist in Trinidad and Tobago. Let the football authorities be forewarned.
8. A missing Football Federation sketch, thought to have been lost but recently found in a foreign TV archive. It seems to tell the story of a branch of Alcoholics Anonymous and their abortive attempt to invade regional football in the 21st century, starting with Guyana, but as it is dubbed in muffled Guyanese and the original English script has been lost, this is uncertain.
What is certain is that the Guyana Football authorities have involved some top lawyers to fight the regional football authorities. So CONCACAF will have to find their Court clothes and attorney fees shortly.
9. A device for exploding sheep, so that when Trinidad and Tobago fail again after being misled, there is not a revolt against Cowboy Hat and his merry men.
10. More than 5,000 TV interviews from round the world with members of the regional cricket boards’ Flying Circus, in all of which the guest Rouse is asked: “And where exactly did the name Mighty Rouse’s Flying Circus come from?” Fans will be interested to know that more than 458 completely different theories are advanced in the course of these interviews. In three of them (for Barbadian, Jamaican and Vincentian television) the interviewer is even assaulted by the Rouse, shouting: “Jesus Christ, if I hear that stupid question again…!”
Interestingly, at least 20 of the interviewers ask whether the ex Rouse-clique will ever team up with the new boy again Stephen Camacho and do some more shows for television. At least three ex Rouse-sarians promise to arrange it.
11. A letter from the actress Sharon “Revealing all” Stone, asking if she too could be included in a West Indies Cricket Board reunion, on the basis that one more “stone” would not make a difference to so much concrete brains. It does not seem to have been answered.
12. A proposal from a publisher to do the Football Advisor’s Spam Cookbook, revealing some of the best cook-ups to ever be found, whether you are in the office or by the river. It also does not seem to have been answered.
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