Naps, Green Machine for Big 5 title

NAPARIMA will travel East to the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima, today to face off against the mean “Green Machine” of St Augustine in the final of the British Gas Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Big 5 series. Kick-off time for today’s encounter is 4 pm. Naps, who lifted the title in 1999, will be pinning their hopes on experienced players, the Lara twins Kezi and Dezi, national Under-17 captain Javed Mohammed, Kern Peters, Renato Ramlochan and Adisa Connell, while the “Green Machine,” who were victorious in 1981, 1982 and 1989, will be relying on the strike pair of Trinidad and Tobago youth players Shastri Spencer (Under-17) and Shane Calderon (Under-20), as well as fellow TT Under-20 player Devon Maxwell, Lorenzo King, Jesse Martinez and captain Matthew Ramirez to set them rolling. The South Zonal champs took care of Scarborough 2-1 in their semi-final clash at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, on Wednesday, But East Zone winners St Augustine needed kicks-from-the-penalty spot to eliminate Mucurapo 8-7 on Tuesday.