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A clash between the Venezuelan Under-20 footballers and the Trinidad and Tobago squad brought the South Americans' four-match tour to a sour end on Sunday night at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.


The hosts were level at 1-1 with the visitors as the game drew to a close in the second match of a double-header-which also included the Under-17 teams-when a scuffle broke out as a result of a Venezuelan protest over T&T's 88th minute equaliser.

That prompted the players on the Venezuelan bench to rush onto the field, and the T&T subs followed them.

When referee Neil Brizan finally brought the furore under control, the Venezuelans-who had come out on top 1-0 in Friday's opening match at the Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya-refused to play to the final whistle, coach Nelson Carrero calling his charges off the field to jeers from the home crowd.

Earlier in the match, Trinidad and Tobago dominated play in the first half and although the Venezuelans had to play 80 minutes with ten men-Jose Eranados having been ejected in the tenth minute for punching Joel James in an off-the-ball incident-they were unable to take the lead.

Contrastingly, it was the visitors who got on the scoresheet first in the 70th through Luis Seijas.

With T&T 'keeper Thorne Holder beaten, Radhanfah Abu Bakr blocked an initial attempt at goal, and the ball fell for Seijas, who made no mistake.

An unmarked Abu Bakr found the equaliser two minutes from time, collecting a cross in the box and lobbing Venezuelan goalie Daniel Valdez.

Appeals for an offside call on Abu Bakr on the play were turned down by the referee, sparking the South Americans' tempers and an end to a promising match.

T&T Under-20 coach Anton Corneal expressed disappointment with the way the match ended, but was also pleased his players were not intimidated by the Venezuelans.

"I thought our players handled it exceptionally well," Corneal told Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (T&TFF) media officer Shaun Fuentes.

"There were some scuffles earlier on as well and then when players from the opposite bench began running on to the pitch, I agree with our players teaming up to defend each other. Then when we responded for our guys to pull away, they did that and that is always something difficult to do, especially when it doesn't happen often to us.

"I am not saying that we need fights, but we need more games with this type of intensity," Corneal added.

In the earlier Under-17 encounter, the Venezuelans-who won 4-1 in Friday's opener at Macoya-ended their short tour on a high, taking the honours 2-1.

A 12th minute penalty from Leonardo Colmenares, after he was brought down in the box by Brendon Boucaud, then a 37th minute strike from Yan Salazar made the difference for the visitors, who came under intense pressure from the T&T attack in the second half, after a 2-0 lead at the interval.

T&T captain Javed Mohammed was particularly troublesome, twice forcing diving saves from Venezuela's Alejandro Lupo through free kicks outside the 18-metre box, the Venezuelans seeming uncomfortable with the aerial play.

Nyron Orr also kept the Venezuelan goalie on his toes, even obliging Lupo to punch wide a well-timed shot low to his right.

Boucaud also had two timely clearances to save T&T in the last ten minutes and then in the 89th, substitute goalie Nigel Thomas ran out of the 18-metre box to clear the ball from an onrushing Anton Irwin.

Striker Shastri Spencer finally got the home team a consolation item in the last play of the game, knocking home an Orr cross from point-blank range.

The T&T Under-20 team will now prepare for the CFU qualifier against Cuba on November 19 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.