After being shocked 2-0 by St Lucia in their opening encounter, the Trinidad & Tobago's national Men’s Under-17 team are finally off the mark and up the table.
The Junior Soca Warriors rebounded in style to beat last place team Barbados 3-0 in the 2014 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Men’s Under-17 Qualifiers in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
St Benedict’s College striker Anthony Herbert led the way when he opened the scoring in the 19th minute. East Mucurapo's Tekay Hoyce then doubled T&T lead in the 50th before Trinity East's Dareem Daniel 77th minute goal sealed it for T&T.
Host Haiti meanwhile, showed T&T how it's done when they drummed St Lucia 6-1 to top the group and now anxiously awaits the Soca Warriors in their final group encounter tomorrow at the Sylvio Cator Stadium from 7:30pm.
Johnson Jeudy (17), Ronaldo Damus (31), Bicou Bissainthe (45) and a hat-tirck from Jude Maitre in the 49th, 64th and 83rd minutes were Haiti's goalscorer.
While Noah Nicholas, the striker who double devoured T&T in the opening game got St Lucia's lone item in the 61st minute.
The Haitians victory gave T&T a lifeline as they are now second place on goal difference over St Lucia.
Fortunately for T&T, Barbados will play St Lucia at 5pm (2-hours before T&T meet Haiti) and depending on the outcome, T&T will more than likely know the road they will have to take against Haiti, either-way, they will be gunning for the host just to play it safe.
The best second placed finisher from the two groups will also advance to the final round of Concacaf’s World Cup qualifiers directly. While, the top team in each group also gains an automatic spot at next February’s Concacaf Under-17 Championship, which will be staged in Honduras.
Standings - Group A
P W D L F A Pts
Haiti 2 2 0 0 8 1 6
T&T 2 1 0 1 3 2 3
St Lucia 2 1 0 1 3 6 3
Barbados 2 0 0 2 0 5 0
Standings - Group B
P W D L F A Pts
Cuba 1 1 0 0 5 0 3
Jamaica 1 1 0 0 4 0 3
Martinique 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
Guadeloupe 1 0 0 1 0 5 0
October 22
Martinique vs Cuba, 5pm
Jamaica vs Guadeloupe, 7:30pm
October 23
Barbados vs St Lucia, 5pm
Haiti vs T&T, 7:30pm
October 24
Guadeloupe vs Martinique, 5pm
Jamaica vs Cuba, 7:30pm
October 26
Runner-up A vs Runner-up B, 5pm
Winner a vs Winner B, 7:30pm
T&T U-17s whip Bajans 3-0.
T&T Express Reports.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Men’s Under 17 footballers bounced back from their opening defeat to St Lucia, to whip Barbados 3-0 in the second group match of the Caribbean Under-17 final round tournament on Tuesday night at Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Haiti thrashed St Lucia 6-1 in the other match to lead the standings with six points ahead of T&T (three points) and St Lucia (three points). T&T now have to beat hosts Haiti tonight to move on in the tournament.
Anthony Herbert gave T&T the start they needed with a 14th minute item and Tekay Hoyce then converted a 50th minute penalty before Dareem Daniel, with a ripper in the 77th minute, sealed the three points for T&T. Goalkeeper Enrique Changiah also made a double save to prevent a penalty attempt by St Lucia in added-on time.
T&T head coach Shawn Cooper said his players knew they had to come out firing to make up for the opening 2-0 loss to St Lucia on Sunday. “They knew they had to dig deep because of that loss on the opening day. We regrouped and the boys went out there and executed well tonight,” Cooper told TTFA Media. “There is still room for us to improve our play but the confidence is back and I think we can expect a really good contest against the hosts Haiti on Thursday,” he added.
T&T’s opening goal came when Shobal Celestine beat his man on the left flank and crossed into the box for Herbert to head past Barbados goalkeeper Kishar Primus. T&T controlled proceedings going into the half time interval and doubled their advantage when Hoyce converted the penalty after Sharkell Louison was brought down in the box after a surging run goalwards.
Daniel then made sure of the win with a fantastic effort as he curled a left footer over Primus into the top right corner of the goal. There were good performances for T&T from 14-year-old midfielder Isaiah Hudson, skipper Kareem Riley, Celestine, Herbert, Louison, Hoyce and Kendell Charles.
T&T line up: - 1. Enrique Changiah, 2. Sharkell Louison, 3. Keston Julien (17. Darnell Hospedales 79th) 4. Tekay Hoyce, 5.Kendell Charles, 6. Kareem Riley, 7. Isaiah Hudson, 8. Kierron Mason, 9. Anthony Herbert (14. Travell Edwards 79th) 11.Shobal Celestine (10. Dareem Daniel 69th), 18. Nate Brooks.
Subs not used: - 12. John Michael Herrera, 13. Sherwin Noel, 15. Matthaeus Granger, 16 Jankeon Alexander 19. John Paul Rochford, 21. Levi Fernandez.