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Offline Tallman

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Late goals spare Trinidad and Tobago vs 157th ranked Grenada
« on: November 13, 2017, 07:31:37 PM »
Late goals spare Trinidad and Tobago vs 157th ranked Grenada
T&T Newsday


Grenada overcame the setback of a delayed flight to lead an insipid Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 with a few minutes remaining, but the home team rallied to ensure a 2-2 draw last evening, in their friendly football international at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Shandon Baptiste netted in the 48th minute and another midfielder Ricky Modeste got his name on the scoresheet in the 71st as the Anthony Modeste-coached outfit had a deserved cushion.

But substitute striker Jamille Boatswain trimmed the deficit in the 87th before midfielder Kevin Molino, in his first match as skipper, notched the equaliser in stoppage time.

Teenaged winger Kathon St Hillaire was handed his first international cap by T&T coach Dennis Lawrence but the St Ann’s Rangers player, like most of his teammates, made no favourable impression in the first half.

Too often, passes back to the defenders and goalkeeper Adrian Foncette seemed to be the preferred option by the home team against a team ranked 157th in the world and who only arrived at 3.20 pm which forced the kick-off time to be shifted from 6 pm to 7.30 pm.

One of the many giveaways in the back nearly resulted in a goal for Grenada, in the 18th minute.

Striker Kairo Mitchell, with loads of space outside the penalty box, turned and struck a low right-footer which missed the target by a couple of metres.

The closest T&T came to scoring was in the 27th as another teenaged winger, Levi Garcia, played a ball to overlapping left-back Kevon Villaroel. The defender shrugged off a challenge before forcing a good save from Grenada skipper and goalie Jason Belfon, with Molino’s follow-up blocked by the defenders.

Six minutes before the half-time whistle, midfielder Alexander McQueen pounced on a loose ball, and fired a right-footed shot which sailed inches over the crossbar.

Four minutes into the second half, Grenada broke the deadlock and the TT defence had only themselves to blame.

Molino lost possession and Shavon John-Brown, on the run, found Mitchell whose shot was saved by Foncette but Baptiste rifled home the rebound, to the top left-hand corner of the net.

T&T awoke from their slumber and came close on a few occasions, through Garcia, Molino and Roach, while John-Brown missed two opportunities to extend Grenada’s lead.

However, the visitors duly got their second, when Ricky Modeste met Baptiste’s corner and flicked his right-footed shot to the right of a leaping Foncette.

T&T dug deep to guarantee that the estimated 2,000 fans at the venue had something to remember, as Boatswain ran on to a through ball from centre-back Curtis Gonzales and angled his shot past the outstretched right hand of Belfon while Molino, two minutes into added-on time, took a ball from Gonzales, turned and shot a left-footer beyond Belfon’s reach.

The Guyanese football team was also in attendance, and they will be preparing to tackle the hosts, at the Ato Boldon Stadium, in Tuesday’s friendly international.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Adrian Foncette; Curtis Gonzales, Triston Hodge, Kevon Villaroel, Alvin Jones (Jamille Boatswain 77th); Kevan George, Jared London (Nathan Lewis 71st), Levi Garcia, Kathon St Hillaire, Kevin Molino (capt); Akeem Roach (Ricardo John 83rd).

GRENADA: Jason Belfon (capt); Alec Andell, Irvin Smith, Leaon St John, Ethan Ravalier; Kennedy Hinkson (Rickson Phillip 67th), Ricky Modeste (Rickey Sayers 82nd), Alexander McQueen (Kwazim Theodore 63rd), Shandon Baptiste; Kairo Mitchell (Saydrel Lewis 76th), Shavon John-Brown.

WATCH: Highlights of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2-2 draw with Grenada

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/VJJIgkiQ4e0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/VJJIgkiQ4e0</a>

WATCH: Post-match comments from Head Coach Dennis Lawrence following Trinidad and Tobago’s 2-2 draw with Grenada

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/JrVQ55_eE7E" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/JrVQ55_eE7E</a>
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

Offline Tallman

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Lawrence hails T&T character after shocking 2-2 draw against Grenada
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2017, 07:40:07 PM »
Lawrence hails Trinidad and Tobago character after shocking 2-2 draw against Grenada
T&T Newsday


Trinidad and Tobago football coach Dennis Lawrence has hailed the character shown by his players on Saturday evening, as they battled from two goals down in the 87th minute to earn a 2-2 draw against Grenada, in a friendly international at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.

Shandon Baptiste (48th minute) and Ricky Modeste (71st) found the back of the net for the Grenadians, before substitute Jamille Boatswain (87th) and captain Kevin Molino (90th) responded with late strikes for the hosts to save their blushes.

“I want to compliment the players on the character they showed to get back into that game the way they did,” said Lawrence, during the post-match interview. “I thought Grenada were very well-organised (and) made it extremely difficult for us. And they worked extremely hard. We had to dig deep.”

The kick-off time was pushed from 6 pm to 7.30 pm as the Grenadians encountered flight issues. But the visitors seemed destined for a deserved victory until the late-game heroics by the hosts.

“Grenada is one of the countries in the Caribbean that you can see the progress they’re trying to make,” Lawrence said, “There are a few things that we need to work on. Our passing sometimes was very erratic. We need to concentrate a bit more on these things.”

In contrast to the views of many, particularly the estimated 2,000 fans on hand, Lawrence noted, “In the first half I was quite comfortable because I felt we were in control of the game.”

But he pointed out, “Football is a game that things happen and you have to respond. And the boys responded well.”

Captaining TT for the first time was attacking midfielder Kevin Molino who was banned for a couple World Cup qualifiers by former coach Stephen Hart a year ago due to disciplinary issues.

“Me and (the) coach talked and he thinks I’m the most senior player on the team, and I lead by example,” the 27 year old Molino said. “I (took) up the opportunity to captain the team and I led the team well.” A number of TT players looked off the boil, but it was only after Modeste made it 2-0 that Lawrence started to make changes to the on-field personnel.

The TT coach stated, “The substitutions (were) two-fold. One, we wanted to give players the opportunity to play 90 minutes. We’ve got two games in four days and the idea is to use the entire squad for the two games.

“We had to leave players on the pitch for as long as possible because mentally I had to push the players,” added the ex-TT central defender.

“Then we were chasing the game and we thought these were the substitutions we were going to make to try and affect the game, which I think they did.”

A shock inclusion, in the dying stages, was debutant striker Ricardo John, who plays for Toronto FC II in the United Soccer League.

Lawrence explained, “When we were going into the camp, I was informed that he was in Trinidad. We had the situation with Shahdon (Winchester) who couldn’t be here for this game.

“(John) trained with us, he did very well and I thought I would give him the opportunity to be part of the squad.”
The Conquering Lion of Judah shall break every chain.

 

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