Trinidad & Tobago		Martinique
Stern John (56') Stern John (92')

Caribbean Cup

Date	Venue	Location	Attendance
1998-07-24	Hasely Crawford Stadium	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	0

T&T pips Martinique 2-1

Trinidad started the Martinique game without the services of midfielder David Nakhid, he was not even listed on the substitute list, no reason has yet been given for this. Marcelle wore the captain's arm band and led with a purpose. He gave a gutsy performance throughout the entire match. A slow start by both teams in front of a medium size crowd at the Stadium. John had two early opportunities in the first 20 minutes. First his shot from inside the area was deflected away for a corner and then soon afterwards following a well directed cross by Lyndon Andrews he headed wide of the left post. After an excellent build up, Marcelle's left foot shot from outside the area went straight to the 'keeper. Martinique also had their fair share of chances. Following a bad pass back from the centre of the field by John, Durogen was let through and forced Ince to make an excellent stop and soon after they counter attacked and Rodolphe Rano's shot was stopped by Ince. Coming close to the half an indirect free-kick was awarded to TT inside the area, Marcelle's shot was blocked by the wall and following the rebound the attackers made a mess of it.TT had three corners as opposed to 1 for the Martiniquans. A far from impressive display by both teams going in to the half. I would say that the visitors had the better of the exchanges, they looked more composed at the back. The local players were making too many silly mistakes and alot of passes were off target. Then in the 56th minute, it was John who took over, with his back towards the goal, he screened, turned one way and then turned the other leaving a defender going the opposite direction, ran diagonally towards goal and  rifled a beauty of a shot into the net to give the homesters a much needed advantage. This is so far the goal of the tournament. Marvin Andrews had a glorious opportunity to increase the lead but his header from a right sided corner was well directed and lacked venom and was kept out by the 'keeper.Irasto was not as much a threat as the first match with both he and John being heavily marked. Knights was replaced by Sheldon Thomas. Midway through the second half Patrick Piercin was sent off by  referee Peter Pandergest for a second bookable offense on Jemmot. Then less than two minutes later they were down to nine men  when Rudolphe Rano was given marching orders for another tackle on Jemmot. Down to nine men, one would have expected the locals to increase their goal tally or at least hold onto the lead. Instead they once again looked carefree. Francois Forales  headed past INce from a freekick which was flicked on by a Martiniquan forward and met by the head of Francois. Poor defensive display once again by the backline. They seemed to be heading to a draw which would have meant they would meet the Kingston boys in the semis if they were to end up second in the group, and Martinique already had an advantage after scoring five in the first affair. Then there was John, kept out for most of the game ,  in the second  of the four  minutes given for injury time , he was given a little room and made no mistake getting it past the 'keeper. Three valuable points for TT but St.Clair certainly will have to look back seriously at the  mistakes made in the game if they intend to give Jamaica a fight in the predicted dream final. Too  many careless mistakes were being made, they seemed to be playing without a plan. Even for free-kicks there were no ideas being used. There is a feeling that St.Clair should change the present 3-5-2 system and possibly play a 4-4-2.

LINEUP
	Clayton Ince
	Marvin Andrews
	Shurland David
	Ansil Elcock
	Keyeno Thomas
	Lyndon Andrews
	Kerwin Jemmott
	Sherwyn Julien
	Stern John
	Irasto Knights
	Sheldon Thomas
	Clint Marcelle (capt.)
SUBSTITUTES
	Sheldon Thomas
COACH
	Bertille St. Clair
SUBSTITUTIONS
0'	Sheldon Thomas for Irasto Knights