Trinidad and Tobago's Under-14 boys' football team suffered a heartbreak loss in their tier one semifinal in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys' Challenge Series on August 23, when they were knocked out after going down 4-3 to French Guiana in a seven-goal thriller at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago.
After trailing 4-1 at the half to a French Guiana team which scored a couple of brilliant long range goals on the night, coach Densill Theobald's young charges fought valiantly as they scored two late goals through Adasa Richardson and Jahmiah Gibbes in the 70-minute contest. The home fans urged their team to pull off the dramatic comeback, but their efforts just fell short as their fate was sealed when referee Ramprashad James blew his final whistle after as many as eight minutes of second-half stoppage-time.
Battling for the right to tackle the unbeaten Jamaica in the August 25 final at the Bacolet venue, French Guiana and T&T exchanged a flurry of goals in the opening stages of the game, with the guests running out to a 3-1 lead inside 20 minutes.
Patient passing and building from the back has been one of the features of T&T's play in the tourney. However, after just eight minutes, goalkeeper Christian Telfer was left picking the ball from the back of the net after Matheo Francois punished an errant pass at the back by T&T forward Reagan Rowe.
Rowe didn't lick his wounds for long, though, as he helped the hosts level the scores just three minutes later when he made a mazy run down the right flank before setting up Jeremai Nanton, who found the net with a lovely left-footed volley from a tight angle.
The frenetic pace didn't ease up, and French Guiana playmaker Tyler Hartino restored his team's advantage in the 13th minute when he dispatched a curling left-footed shot past Telfer from outside the area after dancing past a challenge from his fellow number six Deron Blackman. The visitors' lead stretched to 3-1 in the 19th minute when an attempted clearance from T&T central defender Kenai Richardson crashed off his fellow defender Essien Thomas and cruelly rolled past Telfer's goal line.
Telfer could do little to stop French Guiana's third goal, and he was also hapless in the 31st minute when lively French Guiana attacker Guezo Atoukou gave his team a 4-1 lead with an expertly struck left-footed free kick which flew into the top corner from close to 30 yards out.
Facing a three-goal deficit to start the second half, the hosts may have been forgiven for throwing up the white flag. T&T's second-half performance was an intense one, though, and they could have pulled off a spectacular comeback with more accurate finishing.
Adasa was a handful for the visiting team in the second half, and he was at the heart of the home team's more fruitful attacks. In the 41st minute, Adasa sprayed a left-footed effort wide of the mark after receiving a pass from Gibbes, with Nanton being stopped by a brilliant save from Hugo Sante just three minutes later.
The one-way traffic continued as T&T went in search of their second goal, and Thomas and substitute Darnell Walcott wasted presentable chances near the hour mark. The hosts did get their second goal in the 59th minute when Adasa tapped in from close range after Walcott put in a low ball from the right.
At the end of regulation time, the hosts pulled within one goal when Gibbes thumped home from point-blank range after Sante spilled a left-side ball from attacker Sebastian James.
Theobald's charges fashioned a couple of chances in stoppage-time, but they couldn't get that elusive equalising goal.
In the first tier one semifinal in Bacolet, Jamaica clinched their spot in the final after overturning a 1-0 half-time deficit to beat Puerto Rico 3-1. Jamaica and French Guiana will vie for CFU tier one honours from 6.30 pm in Bacolet on August 25.
TEAMS
Trinidad and Tobago (4-3-3): 1.Christian Telfer (GK); 2.Lucas Shaw (4.Kyen Anderson 36), 14.Kenai Richardson, 5.Essien Thomas, 15.Antoni James (12.Jahmiah Gibbes 36); 17.Aaden Jones (20.Samuel Balfour 50), 6.Deron Blackman (8.Ackim Duncan 50), 19.Sebastian James; 10.Reagan Rowe (captain) (7.Darnell Walcott 50), 13.Jaeden Anthony (11.Adasa Richardson 36), 9.Jeremai Nanton.
Unused substitutes: 18.Samuel Hosein (GK), 3.JaiMarley John, 16.Jaden Marcelle.
Coach: Densill Theobald
French Guiana (4-2-3-1): 16.Hugo Sante (GK); 13.Adam Adjibola, 2.Maiwen Papadi, 4.Leo Josile, 5.Edrod Dave Guirand; 6.Tyler Hartino, 8.Krysleim Seranot; 7.Matheo Francois, 10.Enzo Cherica (captain), 11.Guezo Atoukou (15.Lowan Adaoude 69); 12.Bahuan Cleovil (3.Hassan Cayol Pindard 70).
Coach: Mickael Hamon
SOURCE: T&T Newsday