Trinidad and Tobago's Under 23 footballers hit back in fighting fashion following their opening loss to come away 2-1 winnersover Guyana's Under 23 team at the Blairmont Community Centre Ground on Sunday evening.
Goals by Nigel Daniel in the 55th minute and Michael Lee Celestine in the 83rd minute gave T&T a come from behind win after the homeside went ahead minutes before the break through Elton Brown.
The win was well appreciated by national coach Stuart Charles Fevrier who credited his players for showing grit after coming from a goal down having already gone into the affair under pressure following Friday's 2-1 loss to the same side at the Georgetown Cricket Ground.
"I think today the boys deserved credit for showing character and they were more focused than Friday's game," Fevrier told TTFF Media on Sunday night.
"All in all we did well under some difficult conditions and having to play against a team of a different style of play. This is what playing at the international level is about and I am grateful that we were able to come away with a win to close the series."
Guyana went ahead when Brown a through pass to beat Joe Public custodian Kevin Graham. T&T then struck through Daniel whose goal according to Fevrier was a "brilliantly taken free kick." Daniel swerved the ball around a five-man wall with a left footer which kept low and beat goalkeeper Fidel Smith on his left side. T&T persisted and they were rewarded when Celestine, completed a play which included a combination of good passes, by collecting from Daniel and picking his spot to calmly slot into the far right corner of the net. "We fell behind first but I thought we controlled the majority of the play and the guys deserve credit for this, "Fevrier said.
He also spoke well of Guyana saying that they rose well to the occasion of playing T&T, a team which they hold a lot of respect for. "They are working really hard with a Brazilian coach (Neider Dos Santos) and they deserved credit for playing two good games against us. They too really want to get into the final round."
Next up T&T faces Grenada on November 15 (in Grenada) and November 19 (Hasely Crawford Stadium) in the second round of the 2004 Olympic qualifiers while Guyana takes on Costa Rica. "Our preparations will continue as our main focus now will be to get into the final round and I believe that these two games came at a good time to get us ready for Grenada," ended Fevrier. The T&T side is expected home on Monday.