Trinidad and Tobago’s National Under 23 team held Grenada’s National Senior Team to a 1-1 draw in a friendly encounter played at the National Stadium there on Saturday night.
A 90th minute goal by Caledonia AIA defender Daneil Cyrus was the equalizer for the T&T after Marcus Julien had given Grenada a 25th minute lead when he got the ball past goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel.
The game was played on a hard bumpy surface but didn’t have too much of a negative impact on T&T’s performance as head coach Zoran Vranes was contented with the team’s showing in front of approximately 8,000 fans.
“We scored very late but I am very satisfied with my team’s performance against Grenada’s Senior Team which is preparing for the Digicel Cup later this year,” Vranes told TTFF Media after the match.
“We dominated the game for very long periods but they got the first goal and they were very determined not to give up anything. We missed a few good opportunities but I’m not worried over our performance from this game because we had them under pressure for long periods in this match,” he added.
Vranes also complimented San Juan Jabloteh defender Robert Primus for his performance as he marshaled T&T’s back line on the evening. Primus, who is in training with Russell Latapy’s Senior squad, wore the captain’s armband for T&T in Saturday’s match.
“Primus was very good for us tonight. I saw some good performances which is a good sign for us. Of course we missed some of our other players and we played with a fully locally-based team.
We will continue to work towards strengthening the players we have now because there’s the CAC Games coming up which will be the first tournament since the Under 20 World Cup and it will be a good opportunity for us to how much we’re improving particularly with the Olympic qualification later on,” Vranes concluded.
Grenada are preparing to stage one of the Digicel Caribbean Championships preliminary groups which will include T&T’s Senior team in October. The T&T team will return home on Sunday afternoon and resume training next week.
T&T start team vs Grenada: Glenroy Samuel, Robert Primus (capt), Jevon Morris, Sheldon Bateau, Joevin Jones, Nicholas Walker, Marcus Joseph, Jean Luc Rochford, Daneil Cyrus, Trent Lougheed, Jamal Gay.
Cyrus saves day for T&T U-23s.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Lanky defender Daneil Cyrus scored in the final minute as T&T Under-23 footballers (Olympic squad) held Grenada senior team o a 1-1 draw in a friendly encounter at the National Stadium, St Georges, Grenada on Saturday night.
Cyrus, of Pro League club Caledonia AIA equalized for the T&T after Marcus Julien had given Grenada a 35th minute lead when he got the ball past goalkeeper Glenroy Samuel.
Julien opened the scoring after he chased down a diagonal lob from central midfielder Carl Joseph and rifled home a right-footed shot. T&T fluffed at least one clear chance at equalising midway through the second half of a fast-paced, evenly-contested, 90-minute fixture when Cyrus picked out striker Trent Lougheed with a left sided cross, but his header edged the crossbar.
Grenadian goalkeeper Desmond Noel also pulled off several spectacular saves including a full stretch low dive to his left to deny defender Sheldon Bateau’s accurate effort.
Grenada, runners-up in the last Caribbean Cup, was on the verge of a narrow victory until Cyrus spoiled their celebrations just before the final whistle when he volleyed a low shot to the far post from the edge of the box after a high ball played into the box was poorly headed away.
The game was played on a hard bumpy surface but didn’t have too much of a negative impact on T&T’s performance as head coach Zoran Vranes was contented with the team’s showing in front of approximately 8,000 fans.
“We scored very late but I am very satisfied with my team’s performance against Grenada’s senior team which is preparing for the Digicel Cup later this year,” Vranes said after the match.
“We dominated the game for very long periods but they got the first goal and they were very determined not to give up anything. We missed a few good opportunities but I’m not worried over our performance from this game because we had them under pressure for long periods in this match,” he added.
Vranes also complimented San Juan Jabloteh defender Robert Primus for his performance as he marshaled T&T’s back line on the evening.
Primus, who is in training with Russell Latapy’s senior squad, wore the captain’s armband for T&T in Saturday’s match. “Primus was very good for us tonight. I saw some good performances which is a good sign for us. Of course we missed some of our other players and we played with a fully locally-based team.
We will continue to work towards strengthening the players we have now because there’s the Central American and Caribbean Games coming up which will be the first tournament since the Fifa Under-20 World Cup and it will be a good opportunity for us to how much we’re improving particularly with the Olympic qualification later on,” Vranes concluded.
Grenada is preparing to the first round of the Digicel Caribbean Championships preliminary groups which will include T&T’ in October. The T&T team returned home yesterday and resumes training next week.