Trinidad and Tobago have gotten the chance to redeem themselves for a horrific performance in a World Cup qualifier a month ago when they take on St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in the first leg of the Digicel Caribbean Cup Third Round series on January 9 at the Queen's Park Oval.
The teams will then meet again in the SVG return
on January 16 to decide which team advance to the four-team Caribbean
Cup finals in Barbados from February 20-24.
Earlier this year, T&T came away 2-1 winners over SVG in a World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, where they were outplayed for long periods by the unheralded minnows.
But yesterday, T&T's Soca Warriors won a chance at redemption after scoring a comfortable 2-0 victory over the British Virgin Islands (BVI) under horrendous conditions at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya to book their passage 6-0 on aggregate into the the Third Round, where they clash with SVG, who beat Grenada 1-0 yesterday to advance 4-1 on aggregate.
Heavy rain throughout the day in East Trinidad yesterday transformed the Marvin Lee Stadium into a ground fit only for pigs. Still, a surprisingly large crowd turned out to see Trinidad and Tobago pile on first half pressure on a BVI team which looked determined not to be embarrassed after suffering a 4-0 thrashing on their home ground the week before.
But for all their pressure, the Warriors only made the breakthrough in the 21st minute through Jabloteh striker Nigel Pierre, who redirected Cyd Gray's right flank cross past BVI keeper Jermaine Riley.
Nearing the end of the half, midfielder Densil Theobald almost conjured up a second for T&T from just inside the penalty area when putting his shot just over the bar.
Former T&T captain Angus Eve had an immediate impact on his return from injury by giving his team a second goal in the 62nd minute. Eve had been on for just three minutes, as a replacement for Wake Forest striker Scott Sealy, when he met a cross from Leslie "Tiger" Fitzpatrick with a sweet, low volley that propelled the ball into the BVI goal.
Later on, substitute striker Conrad Smith had a tremendous drive palmed away by keeper Riley at the near post, before defender Keyeno Thomas drilled the rebound onto the BVI crossbar as T&T went all out for a third goal.
Fitzpatrick also perfectly headed a Eve cross downward but straight into Riley's midriff, while Pierre's shot from a rebound was again smothered by the defenders.
The visitors had just a few raids on the T&T goal on the counterattack.
For the most part, T&T attacked as if failing to match their overseas tally the week before might cause some embarrassment.
Fact is, the only real embarrassment was Trinidad and Tobago hosting an international on such a notoriously bad ground. No international matches should ever be played there until the Marvin Lee Stadium field is fixed.
That is the least that can be done to maintain the memory of former national Under-20 captain Marvin Lee, who was critically injured there three years ago.