Dear Forumites,
It amused me this morning on my way to work the number of Soca Warriors jerseys being worn by members of the public. Where were they 24hrs ago when we had a home game and a show of support was needed?
The evening got off to a late start for me and I made it to the game at about 6:45.
The crowd was noticeably thinner and entry into the stadium was hassle free. Kudos to Bmobile, Carib and Ultra Malt for the give aways and display booths on entry to the HCS. Carib also had a truck pumping music and hyping up the crowd.
It is here that I saw groups of foreigners, in awe over the music, the girls, the displays the vibes, the giveaways….things we just take for granted when we come to a game. But you could see the delight in their eyes. Let us embrace and enjoy and not look to copy or emulate others…we have we own ting!
I then bounced up fellow forumite Tongue and we both took in the wildlife and pre game antics.
I was not privy to the first field inspection by the teams but they were both warming up energetically. TT on the clock end running in a line, doing jumping jacks stretches etc. Then 10 men put on bibs and went one side playing a game of close touch passing, the subs went one way and the keepers between the sticks. It was here my first sense of worry came over me. “Me Mum” was nowhere to be seen. He was not in a bib…he was not even with the subs…I say oh gorm, pressah…and then after a few minutes I saw him being stretched and massaged by the team doctor away from the rest of the players near the touchline. It didn’t look good and after talking to Patriot who was seated nearby, he confirmed that Birchall was strapped up in the training session a few days before.
Also Yorke and Latapy were not warming up with the squad and then they pulled Birchall one side…I say is either is a team captain, star boy meeting or none of them starting..the latter holding true.
El Salvador warmed up only their starting 11 with the subs, liming near the tunnel entrance.
Everyone meant business and even Ralphie, the Joe Public groundsman who usually sports a red TSTT jersey, green washout track pants and who raises a ball barefoot with much difficulty…was in a Jacket and Tie, Wing tip and Sorf pants. I say yes…Ralphie kit up!
I then took my seat and here I was, a thorn between two roses… Warrior Queen to my left and Girl Warrior to my right. The Big Flag came out, with DCS marshalling the proceedings and then the first piece of drama happened.
Three farse and outta place El Salvador Supporters were on the track running around our Flags Man and taunting and waving their flag. So they get some level Boo from the diehards in grounds…but, certain members of the public frowned on that Booing behaviour and chastised them…this led to arguments in the crowd. Then a fella launched an EMPTY blue waters bottle in the El Salvador flag bearers direction, but as the thing had no substance it probably went just two rows infront of him.
Bam argument start how yuh cyar pelt ting, and doh do visitors dat..and 4 riot police in full combat gear come and roops up the man and start talking to him hard. He humbled himself and then the police left…but the good fans amongst us started to argue with the man, tell him he shouldn’t be doing that and he start to argue again.
This time riot squad put a baton across his chest…his bartex jockey shorts were then stretched to the middle of his back and on tip toes he was escorted out the stadium.
Spalk then came on the mike and said…ladies and gentlemen…look to your left and look to your right…and give yourself a round of applause for YOU are THE TRUE SUPPORTERS of T&T. Yes there we were about 12,000 of us…die hards!
Then Spalk announced the team line ups…and folks…I get a instant headache.
I ent go lie to alyuh, the little faith I had evaporate and I had to ketch back mehself .
The first name was….number 2…Clyde Leon…I say ok…then he say number 5…keston Williams…Keon Daniel…Abu Bakr…Trent Noel…Silvio Spann.
I say wait…hold up…where the fire power?
Then spalk call out Ince, Glenn, Carlos, Jones and finally your captain…Dennis Lawrence!
Then he call the bench…no Thomas, Tinto on bench, Scotland, Dog, Yorke, Birchall, Hector, Baptiste, Williams.
Well folks I just shake meh head…lady warrior wasn’t impressed…patriot shake he head.
I say to mehself a man I ent like in the back…a shakey Lawrence, a debutant, a man who I ent find good playing he 2nd game, a man who does pull stones on the left wing, a labourer…Trent go put in a solid shift, Carlos go do something, Cornell go do something and Jones dey….Lord put a hand!
I say meh last prayers…and yes..game was underway and yes the man upstairs does listen and deliver.
Folks I would say T&T played 15 minutes of football. The opening 10 and the last 5 minutes of the first half. For the rest of the match., it was all heart attack.
Hear nah if yuh heart ent good and yuh emotions not in check…this T&T side will send you Mt. Hope and St. Anns respectively.
TT lined up in a 4-4-2…El Sal in a 3-5-2 morphing into a 3-4-3 .
From the opening whistle T&T surprised me and I say wait…I might hadda eat meh words…Latas know what he doing…and it was fire power and pace!
We making triangles, Glenn running at them, we switching the attack, we closing down space, we tackling and we passing.
Spann do a one-two and burst down the wing and slip it for Carlos…I say whey…dat is Spann…nah he go do shit just now.
And so said so done…the very next play…a ball is flighted..he miss butt…the El Sal player traps…fake him, bend he spine, roll it tru his legs, take wey he “versatility” and Spann then hacks down the man on the edge of the penalty area. I say oh lorse…not so early. But the free kick was cleared.
I was then very impressed with Glen, his touch, workrate, hustle…everything was on point for him tonight and his goal was superb. From a long ball, Glen trapped, shook off a player, pounds off another, was taken to the side, he beat a man cut into the penalty area and from an acute angle slap a perfect curling bullet into the far post.
GOAL!!!!!!
I mean it take the entire stadium by surprise and we start to jump up, we celebrate, we happy and I just say at least we in control…time for 2 more.
It was then we start to fall apart, get complacent and we shut down for the next 30 minutes and we let El Salvador back into the game.
El Salvador were shell shocked after the goal, stunned and while we did take it to them initially we start making poor choices and started making the unforced errors. Carlos still cyar cross a ball good, shooting instead of passing. Keon killing all momentum on a fast break, trotting and passing ball back. Spann hoofing to no one. I was particularly upset with Bakr, Lawrence and Spann. Imagine a short midget reaching yuh waist and you letting that jump and control ball. Them fellas double teaming and the el Salvador players moving busy and getting the better of them.
Bakr ent play he do shit last night and he collect plenty cuss from Ince…but unlike all the other defenders..he puts up his hand, acknowledges his mistake and says sorry.
The boy trap when he attempting to clear, he mis hoofing out, jokey headers, he having some midget pounds him off the ball. Doh talk about Lawrence, mistackle, poor header and panic football not one of his better games…I didn’t see the composure, the talking, the leadership.
People may not agree with me..but Keston Williams was the find of this match and apart from the latter stages of the second half…the boy real play. He is the best wing back we have tried in that position outside of Avery.
He was comfortable on the ball, good tackle, good workrate, closed down space well in the 1st half, he overlapped and most importantly he crossed in the ball well.
Further, he had no help from Daniel who should really take stock of himself and put some more effort. Daniel was cussed by all in the crowd for just moving half hearted.
To his credit, he did not give away the ball, he showed some footwork and he was a pressure outlet but he was supposed to go fwd with more drive and purpose and track back defensively. Men right there to challenge or chook a toe and he jogging…while Glen, Carlos, Leon and Trent running they liver string out and working hard.
El Salvador had a few free kicks in dangerous positions, they managed a few shots on goal and they were able to flight a long ball and get behind Spann on a number of Occasions.
The ref was real questionable and gave us many undeserved cards and fouls. Additionally there were many acts of diving and poor sportsmanship by the el sal players, including not giving us back the ball after kicking it out for injury..while there is no rule against this..there is an unwritten code amongst players that should be respected.
Coming down to the end of the first half T&T turned it up a notch and Carlos hit a beauty of a free kick, a curler catching the keeper in no mans land…crashing off the cross bar.
Kenwyne put a ball into the net only to be judged offside, Glenn had a shot or two saved and Daniel should have sealed it with the keeper on the ground.
T&T should have been 3-4 nil up at the half. And the experiment by Latapy seemed to be working…Leon and trent were working hard, I thought they did well together, playing within their limitations and getting the outlet ball to carlos to move up the flank or long for Glen. I liked Williams. Jones was being Jones but he was a threat to them having two defenders on him and Glen was on fire tearing them up.
Half time the Carib girls ran out in blue pum pum shorts and gold tops and kicked some big beach balls into the crowd. They were intended to be hit around and played with, but trinis being how we are caught the balls and kept them.
2nd Half…T&T just totally fell apart…El Salvador was in a gear and were running at us and we just couldn’t see our way. Ince take all kinda bullet from close range and again he showed why he is the best thing between the sticks for T&T. He was my Man on the Match for his heroics…bullet by his legs. He drop and sit on a ball. He spread out and collect some more…he run out his post and clean up a man in the first half and all his corner collection and punching out were effective if not perfect.
Barkr got worse as the game went on and never caught himself. Williams got tired and stopped marking the winger and allowed him to trap behind his back. Leon was bun, noel was bun, Spann was jumping and turning his back and then Latapy to me…got all the subs wrong.
The 1st player to come off should have been Daniel and one would have thought that Tinto would be the man to replace him. Or take off Spann or Williams, revert Carlos to the wingback to shore it up and put Tinto to run at them.
Bam Birchall comes on…for either trent or leon who were not having bad games.
Birchall was unfairly carded and called for fouls when he tackled fairly and this tempered him severely. We had no attack atall, nothing going fwd…we were down to hit and hope and the heroics of carlos or glenn but these were few and far between.
Jones then sparked the crowd with a level bullet from 30 yards that the El Salvador keeper scrambled away with his legs. Yes the counter was on, but we were soaking up too much pressure and I couldn’t take it.
The back 4 start to panic, we swiping fresh breeze, mistackling, lunging at everything, giving away corners and in response we put on Dwight Yorke to slow the game down further.
It was well intentioned and Yorke did not lose the ball, but the supporting cast and outlets that were available were lacking. The only thing we had going fwd was Glenn..still ripping up and they sub him for Scotland who was asked to play uptop by himself.
I was baffled by this and I felt Jones should have been the one to come off.
Glen’s last contribution for the evening was a breakaway and after dribbling the defender at the top of the box opted to chip the keeper instead of passing the ball to Jones who was unmarked. It woulda be a bess goal…but it went overbar!
Folks after that I was just sick…we just didn’t have a clue and it only Clayton Ince, LUCK..and the HCS Jumbie that prevented us from drawing or losing that match.
T&T lacked ideas both defensively and offensively. We looked very poor and our points and position in the table and our opponents are true to form. But we on the up and we can only get better. Give thanks!...we get 3 points of Gold and well done to all the fellas for putting out a good fight. An ugly win…but we taking that!
Afterward the Carib truck with the girls was pumping music and all and sundry chipped along Carnival style on Ariapita avenue.
Till next time…licks for Honduras!