Two goals from Demarai Ramelle Gray on only his second appearance for Jamaica's Reggae Boyz Wednesday night confined the T&T Soca Warriors to their first defeat in Group A of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, 4-1 at the City Park in Missouri, USA.
The result means the Soca Warriors will have to beat the host and defending champions United States when the teams meet on Sunday (July 2) at the Bank of American Stadium.
USA, fielding a second-rated team for the tournament, was scheduled to meet St Kitts and Nevis in the other group match last night.
Coach Angus Eve's men struggled to cope with the physical strength and pace of their regional rival from as early as the second minute of play when Bobby Reid raced into the T&T's goal area from a cheeky back-heel by Michail Antonio that put him on a one-on-one with Nicklas Frenderup in the T&T goal but from a semi-acute angel, Reid fired his shot into the side nettings.
Later though, they would not be denied the opening goal in the 14th minute. Antonio, holding off his marker with the ball in the centre of the T&T defence, then released to Leon Bailey, who quickly picked out Gray free on the left side to take aim and lash the ball past Frenderup into the vacant far-post for a 1-0 lead.
The Warriors, still trying to find its way in the encounter, went further behind in the 17th minute, as their defence failed to pick up Bailey from a long lifted ball over the top of the defence which put Bailey on a one-on-one with Frenderup.
With the goal at his mercy, Bailey drilled his left footer hard and low past Frenderup into the bottom left corner for a 2-0 advantage.
T&T, who defeated the Jamaicans in an international friendly match early this year, failed to replicate the attacking prowess in the first half of play. That, coupled with a shaky defence, led to the Jamaican's third goal in the 30th minute.
This time, Antonio overrode a battling challenge by Kareem Moses in the T&T goal area and released to the unmarked Gray to get his second goal of the night with a simple tap in for a 3-0 lead. The match, dubbed the Caribbean "Classico", had gone all in favour of the Reggae Boyz in the first half and when the teams returned to the field in the second session, it looked like a different T&T team.
Coach Eve, needing to get a result from the match, brought in Kaile Auvray, who peppered the Nicaraguan defence in the CONCACAF Nations League in Tobago in March as well as Joevin Jones and Tristan Hodge.
It proved to have worked for the Warriors when Garcia, on the right side of the Jamaican defence, beat his marker for pace to the byline before centring for Andre Rampersad to back-heel the ball into the Jamaican goal for a 3-1 scoreline.
The goal gave the Warriors hope and for the first time, Eve's men attempted to keep the ball and create rare troubles for the Reggae Boyz. However, the men in red, white and black, in spite of their obvious desire to attack, would have only the heavens to thank as a couple of defensive blunders gave the Jamaicans at least two opportunities to seal the win.
In the first in the 64th minute, Shamar Nicholson was put through with a one-on-one with Frenderup, but his attempt at the far post was somehow pushed wide by the T&T custodian.
A minute later, Damion Lowe with a searching run down the right side, centred for the unmarked Bailey, who hit the ball wide of the open target.
However, the T&T defence could do nothing when Dujuan Richards exploited the space given by the local defenders, and his powerful grounder took a deflection off Moses before flying past Frenderup for a 4-1 victory.
The result put the Jamaicans in the top position in the group with four points, and they would feel confident of progressing to the next of the competition with the next match being against S Kitts and Nevis.
The Warriors, on the other hand, will have to reproduce the performance that earned them a 2-1 win over the US in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva in 2017.
(Teams)
Trinidad and Tobago (5-4-1): 21.Nicklas Frenderup (GK); 16.Alvin Jones, 4.Sheldon Bateau, 2.Aubrey David (18.Triston Hodge 46), 12.Kareem Moses, 14.Shannon Gomez (23.Molik Khan 75); 19.Malcolm Shaw (20.Kaïlé Auvray 46), 17.Andre Rampersad (10.Kevin Molino 63), 15.Neveal Hackshaw, 8.Ajani Fortune (3.Joevin Jones 46); 11.Levi Garcia (captain).
Substitutes: 1.Marvin Phillip (GK), 22.Denzil Smith (GK), 5.Leland Archer, 6.Luke Singh, 7.Ryan Telfer, 9.Kadeem Corbin, 13.Real Gill.
Coach: Angus Eve
Jamaica (4-3-3): 1.Andre Blake (GK) (captain); 21.Javain Brown (8.Daniel Johnson 61), 6.Di’shon Bernard, 17.Damion Lowe, 20.Kemar Lawrence (2.Dexter Lembikisa 46); 3.Kevon Lambert, 15.Joel Latibeaudiere, 10.Bobby Reid (11.Shamar Nicholson 61); 7.Leon Bailey (14.Dujuan Richards 81), 18.Michail Antonio (9.Cory Burke 75), 12.Demarai Gray.
Unused substitutes: 13.Coniah Boyce-Clarke (GK), 23.Jahmali Waite (GK), 4.Amari’i Bell, 16.Kaheem Parris, 19.Adrian Mariappa, 22.Jonathan Russell.
Coach: Heimir Hallgrimsson
Referee: Fernando Guerra (Mexico)
Group A Results
Jamaica 4 (Demarai Gray 14, 30, Leon Bailey 18, Dujuan Richards 90+2), Trinidad and Tobago 1 (Andre Rampersad 49)
United States 6 (Djorde Mihailovic 12, 79, Bryan Reynolds 14, Jesus Ferreira 16, 25, 50), Saint Kitts and Nevis 0