Second half substitute Trevin Caesar scored a 67th minute equalizer to help Trinidad and Tobago’s Olympic Under 23 team to a 1-1 draw with Jamaica’s U-23s at the Edward Seaga complex on Wednesday night.
Six minutes after replacing striker Jamal Gay, Caesar maintained his super-sub reputation with a clinical finish to level the scores after Jamaica had gone ahead in the 10th minute through Kendon Anderson.
Caesar collected a ball from the left side by Joevin Jones and slotted past goalkeeper on the first post. Caesar was also a second half scorer in T&T’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara and also netted a second half item in T&T’s 3-1 win over Guyana’s senior team at the Dwight Yorke Stadium last month.
T&T, after arriving in Kingston the previous day, took some time to settle down but gave a much better showing in the second half on a hard and bouncy surface. Following Caesar’s equalizer, T&T thought they got a go ahead goal from Jomal Williams but the goal was ruled offside.
It came when skipper Sheldon Bateau’s well worked free kick just outside the box, a chip into Daneil Cyrus who nodded on for Williams who hit home from close range.
T&T head coach Angus Eve later complimented his team for a good comeback after conceding early.
“The game itself went well for us. We started a bit slow and that’s always a challenge when you have the players coming back from their respective clubs. We had only one day with them before this game and that’s always something we have to work on because they are coming back into our system after doing different things at their various clubs,” Eve told TTFF Media.
“But that’s something we have to deal with and this will improve as we spend more time together for the remainder of the training camps leading up to the tournament.
“I thought generally it was a strong performance against a good Jamaican team that included a couple of their senior players. We will play again on Friday against their top local club and I will be making some wholesale changes to the starting team because while we want to get that balance and maintain the motive of winning, we also want to give the other players a chance to show their value and to see how they deal with the different conditions.
We are playing on a club surface which is not the most ideal thing but it’s good for the preparations to see how the guys adjust to things like this,” added Eve, who made five second half changes on Wednesday night.
The Jamaica line-up included a few of their senior team members including Jorginho James who was a second half substitute in Jamaica’s 3-2 win over New Zealand last month, Andre Campbell who played in a 1-0 win over Cuba and Upston Edwards.
Meantime, T&T, during their upcoming training camp in Fort Lauderdale, will face Canada’s Under 23 team in a training match during their stay there. On Friday night at 7pm T&T will face Jamaica club Portmore United at the Ferdie Neita Park.
Teams
Trinidad & Tobago: Andre Marchan, Sheldon Bateau (capt), Joevin Jones, Kareem Moses, Leslie Russell, Marcus Joseph (Curtis Gonzales 61st), Jean Luc Rochford (Jomal Williams 61st), Jeromie Williams (Daneil Cyrus 69th), Jayson Joseph, Jamal Gay (Trevin Caesar 61st), Micah Lewis (Cameron Roget 69th)
Jamaica Starting Eleven: - Kendon Anderson, Alanzo Adlam, Jorghino James, socawarriors.net, Davion Kelly, Andrew Vanzie, Andre Campbell, Alvas Powell, Upston Edwards, Theo Brown, Ewan Grandison, Shaven Paul.