Trinidad and Tobago advanced to the final stage of the Caribbean Football Union Under 20 qualifying tournament with a 4-2 victory over Barbados on the final day of matches in the preliminary Group A stage at the Marvin Lee Stadium on Sunday.
Going into the game needing just a draw to top the group after Grenada had edged Guyana 1-0 in the first game of the double header, T&T went 2-0 up through first half goals by Kevin Crooks in the 35th minute and a penalty by captain Makan Hislop in the 37th minute. But Barbados hit back through strikes by Lionel Paul in the 42nd and Dwayne McClean in the 52nd minute. Further strikes by Crooks in the 60th and Shane Calderon in the 63rd sealed the win for T&T.
T&T started positively in attack this time around and had their first crack at goal on 4- seconds when Calderon saw his effort go over bar from the edge of the penalty box. Calderon again went close for this hosts in the 14th minute when he spread the ball wide on the left and then collected again just atop the box before swinging one just wide of the far right post. T&T got the ball into the net through Crooks but it was adjudged offside in the 16th minute. The search for the opener ended in the 35th minute when Calderon squared for Crooks to convert from close up and Barbados, left on the backfoot up until then were not facing a tough task to get back in the run of things. It got worse for them two minutes later when Christopher Sam was taken down from behind after Kevon Neaves made a run goalwards before playing him through. Hislop stepped up to convert the resulting penalty to send T&T 2-0.
But Barbados refused to go down without a fight and soon after keeper Thorne Holder smartly snatched one at the feet of Paul, the same player collected on the left of the box and beat the advancing keeper before hitting into an open net. Neaves almost extended the lead on the stroke of half time when his powerful drive had the keeper pushing around his left post.
T&T came out in the second half with the same intentions as the first and went for goal, this time Neaves had Farrell saving low half a minute after the restart. But McClean made coach Anton Corneals team pay for their misses when he volleyed home the equalizer to set up an exciting finish. Calderon kept trying the goal and was unlucky when his effort came off the right far post but Crooks made the scores in favour of T&T again when he drilled home a low effort. Three minutes later it was Calderon met a through ball and coolly hit past the stranded custodian to send T&T safely into the next stage of the competition.
The earlier match was played on a wet outfield as the rains came during the first half but Arkenson Neckles scored the winner for the Grenadians in the 39th minute to send them to four points, second to T&T (seven points) while Guyana and Barbados finished on three points each.
TnT:
Thorne Holder, Ancil Farrier, Karlon Murray (Joel James 56th), Clevon George, Keegan Mills, Devon Maxwell (Radhanfan Abu Bakr 69th), Makan Hislop (capt), Christopher Sam, Kevon Neaves, Shane Calderon, Kevin Crooks (Kirk Hearn 79th).
Barbados:
Kareem Farrell, Ricardo Bartlett, Nicholas Alleyne, Corey McCollin, Andre Layne, Malcolm Marshall (Jamar Watson 56th), Jason Mounter, Rasheed Belgrave, Lionel Paul, Michael Young (Tyrell Hinkson 80th), Quincy Atherly (Dwayne McClean 30th).
Teams P W D L F A PT
X - TnT 3 2 1 0 7 3 7
Grenada 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Barbados 3 1 0 2 5 7 3
Guyana 3 1 0 2 3 5 3