T&T Under-15s meet El Salvador in semis
By: Roger Seepersad (Express).
Tuesday, August 28th 2007
THE Trinidad and Tobago Under-15 footballers will meet El Salvador from 5 p.m. in one of the Caribbean Football Union Under-15 Youth Cup semi-finals scheduled for the Hasely Crawford Stadium today.
In the other semi-final, from 3 p.m. Barbados will go up against Guyana.
In the quarter-finals at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on Sunday, T&T breezed past their opponents 5-1 after Jerrel Britto went on a scoring spree in the second half. And earlier in the day, Barbados sneaked past Antigua and Barbuda 4-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
At the Marvin Lee Stadium, El Salvador booked their semi-final spot with a hard fought 3-1 victory over Aruba, while Guyana secured an easy 2-0 victory over Suriname.
At the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the T&T youngsters got their act together after a slow start and took control of the game 33 minutes in, when captain Britto converted a free kick from just outside the penalty area to put the home side 1-0 up going into the half.
Bermuda came out in the second half, all guns blazing as they launched an all-out attack on the T&T defence.
Goalkeeper John Thomas kept T&T alive with some big saves early in the second half but was left helpless after a close range effort from Arron Nelson brought the scores level in the 43rd minute.
Thomas denied Nelson twice in the opening minutes of the second half, but Nelson continued to pound the T&T defence.
Nelson rocketed a shot from inside the penalty area that left Thomas no choice but to deflect the ball, which landed on the toes of Nelson and he made no mistake in placing it into the net.
Ten minutes later, it was T&T's turn as Bermuda's goalkeeper Stefan Dill was tested with a long range shot from Britto.
Two minutes later, Britto and Dill squared off once more. But it was Britto who came out on top, with a close range effort that gave T&T a 2-1 lead.
Britto got his hat-trick in the 63rd with a solo run, during which, he bisected the Bermuda defence and put the ball in the net in the 63rd.
Collecting the ball in the middle of the park, with the Bermudan defence playing almost in the mid-field, Britto beat the last two defenders forcing Dill to advance off his line. Nothing could stop the T&T captain.
T&T continued to press their advantage as Jerome Diaz added T&T's fourth goal in the 65th from a corner that beat everyone and sailed into the back of the net. Britto then put the game out of reach by scoring his fourth goal in the 69th giving T&T a 5-1 win.
Barbados' journey to the next round was very different as they came from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Antigua and Barbuda in regulation time before forcing a spot kick shootout. Barbados won 4-1 on penalties.
Kevon Browne put Antigua and Barbuda ahead in the 15th minute but Steven Gill brought the scores level in the 25th.
Antigua and Barbuda regained the lead before the interval through Javed Roberts' effort in the 39th, only to concede a penalty early in the second half. Louis Moss converted the penalty for Barbados who were contented to defend for the rest of the game.
Sunday's CFU Results:
Hasely Crawford Stadium
T&T 5 (Jerrel Britto 33th, 55th, 65th, 69th, Jerome Diaz 66th) vs Bermuda 1 (Arron Nelson 43th)
Antigua and Barbuda 2 (Kevon Brown 15th, Javed Roberts 23rd) vs Barbados 2 (Stephen Gill 39th, Louis Moss 45th pen). Barbados won 4-1 on spot kicks.
Marvin Lee Stadium
El Salvador 3 (Lionel Dirks 24th (OG), Ricardo Guevarra 27th, 73rd) vs Aruba 1 (Ryan Leinliendal 59th)
Guyana 2 (Lyndon Benjamin 18th, Eon Alleyne 80th) vs Suriname 0.
Today's CFU Semi-finals:
Hasely Crawford Stadium
Barbados vs Guyana
T&T vs El Salvador
