T&T U-15s whip Aruba 4-1.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).It wasn't quite as easy as Saturday's opening 9-0 victory against the little Bahamians, a match in which Trinidad and Tobago were up by four goals after half hour, all coming off the boot of their prolific captain Jerrel Britto.
Yesterday, the physically bigger Arubans provided more of a test for the T&T squad, before going down 4-1 in their Caribbean Football Union Under-15 Cup match at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
It took 25 minutes for the T&T players to finally crack a stubborn Aruban defence, when Dinell Lopez headed in the rebound from Britto's free-kick, which had crashed off the crossbar. Well beaten, goalie Jordon Tromp was helpless when Lopez put a low header into the net.
But, a breathtaking free-kick from Bryan Dubero soon had Aruba level at 1-1 two minutes later. Lining up a shot from almost 35 metres, Dubero had T&T keeper John Thomas wrong-footed, as his scorcher flew low inside the corner. "Spectacular" could hardly describe that goal.
Early in the second half, Trinidad and Tobago came very close to scoring again, but Jerome Diaz could hardly believe his bad luck, dropping to his knees as his low, long-range shot crashed off the post.
Three minutes later, T&T substitute Reagan Gaulteau hit his shot just wide and Britto crashed a tremendous volley off the crossbar.
Meeting Anslem Jackson's right-side cross first time, Britto rocked the bar and the ball bounced back into play.
Finally, Britto gave T&T a 2-1 advantage in the 56th minute, sliding in a loose ball from close up. And, in similar fashion, Gaulteau breached the centre of the Aruban defence and also rolled in a low shot in the 68th minute, giving T&T a 3-1 lead.
A minute later, Britto had his second, and sixth goal in two matches. Keeper Tromp completely missed Shaquille Stewart's cross, allowing the T&T left back to pass to Britto, who tapped the ball into an open net.
For brief periods yesterday, the young T&T footballers looked good when moving the ball around, but generally there was little off the ball movement by the players. They still have to improve a lot if they are to challenge better teams.
Yesterday’s CFU (Under-15 Youth Cup Results
Group A US VIRGIN ISLANDS 3 (Mc Donald Taylor 5th, 55th, 73rd) vs
BAHAMAS 0.
Man-of-the-match: Mc Donald Taylor (US Virgin Islands)
T&T 4 (Jerrel Britto 52nd, 69th, Reagan Gaulteau 68th, Dinell Lopez 25th) vs ARUBA 1 (Bryan Dubero 26th)
Man-of-the-match: Jerrel Britto (T&T).
Group BANTIGUA & BARBUDA 1 (Kevin Brown 50th) vs CAYMAN ISLANDS 1 (A. Harris 75th).
Man-of-the-match: A. Harris (Cayman Islands).
Group C TOBAGO XI 3 (Cherlon Alleyne 16th, Omarr Charles 31st, Davion David 79th) vs NETHERLAND ANTILLES 2 (Irving Doran 70th, 80th).
Man-of-the-match: Omarr Charles (Tobago)
EL SALVADOR 3 (Ricardo Gueverra 24th, 25th, Edwin Gonzalez 69th) vs BARBADOS 2 (Louis Moss 21st, 48th pen)
Man-of-the-match: Ricardo Gueverra (El Salvador).
Group D SURINAME 4 (Dania Afinkol 33rd, 40th, 79th, Stefano Ryssel 17th) vs ST KITTS & NEVIS 2 (Kadeem Inniss 46th, Davishun Buckshon 50th).
Man-of-the-match: Dania Afinkol (Suriname).
BERMUDA 2 (Dante Leverock 33rd, 55th) vs ST VINCENT & GRENADINES 1 (Myron Samuel 80th).
Man-of-the-match: Akeem Wolffe (Bermuda).
Group E GUYANA 22 (Jevon Gibson 11th, 51st, 75th, 79th, Runnel Gordon 20th, 38th, 46th, 64th, William Europe 34th, 43rd 61st, Andel Norton 40th, 57th, 66th, Kevon Archer 79th, 80th, 80th, Lindsley Jones 14th, 42nd, Germaine Batson 26th, 56th, Joshua Kamal 77th) vs BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS 0.
Man-of-the-match: Jevon Gibson (Guyana)
Going for goal: Anslem Jackson, the elusive Trinidad & Tobago right winger, skips past Roan Petronia of Aruba. Trinidad & Tobago won the CFU under-15 Cup match 4-1 on Tuesday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
