Trinidad and Tobago came away with a much-needed 2-0 victory over Dominican Republic in their first 2006 World Cup qualifying encounter at the Estadio Olimpico Juan Pablo Duarte, Santo Domingo yesterday.
The "Soca Warriors" were far from pretty in their play and were made to fight hard on a bumpy surface for the win, which came courtesy of a 67th minute goal by Rangers defender Marvin Andrews and a 90th minute item by prolific Birmingham City striker Stern John.
The result put coach Bertille St Clair's team in a fairly comfortable position going into the return leg this Sunday at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella.
The only sour note for skipper Angus Eve and his men was the injury to Carlos Edwards, who had to be taken off in the 51st minute after going down in a tackle following an effort at goal.
Edwards was taken to hospital with a damaged left knee and was expected to undergo further examination last night, but has already been ruled out of the return leg.
Commenting on the win, St Clair said there were still areas of the team's performance to be concerned with.
"The victory was a victory, but I am still concerned with the effort from some of the guys and it means that we still have some fine-tuning to do. Our midfield and wing backs have not been performing and we still have these areas to work on.
"It's about who wants it most. There will be guys with skill, but then there will be others who want it more and will be more aggressive," St Clair told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes after the match.
"We are still not getting 100 per cent from the guys, but we can only improve from here on. We won't cry over anything and we are going home with a win and we couldn't have asked for anything else," he added.
Skipper Angus Eve, who provided the left side corner for Andrews' headed goal, mentioned that the team was up for a gruelling encounter.
"In World Cup qualifiers you never really play pretty football and when you play away from home you are always satisfied with a point. We actually did better by coming away with two goals and three points.
"We were up against a team that made it difficult for us with five at the back and four in the middle and it was difficult in breaking them down on what was a hard pitch as well. But credit for the guys, we stuck in and we came out with a result which is the most important thing at this stage," said Eve.
John was still in good spirits despite discovering after the game that he and other teammates had lost money and some personal belongings from the dressing room while the match was in progress.
"This match was a difficult one for us. I think it's the most set of running the team had to do in a while. But, say what, we went out there and got the result which is the only thing that matters at this stage. I was glad to make a contribution by scoring because before that I missed a couple easy chances too. Hopefully, the team can just continue its gelling process from here," said John.
The match attracted some 1,500 fans, including FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, with a group of about 25 flag-waving T&T supporters making their presence felt with loud cheers throughout the encounter.
The T&T squad will return home tomorrow afternoon.