T&T vs Jamaica in CFU U-15 girls final.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).[/size]
There were no surprises in the end.
Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will contest a Caribbean girls football final for the umpteenth time when they meet in the CFU Under-15 Invitational final at 4 pm tomorrow at the Marvin Lee Stadium. Immediately afterwards, the boys Under-17 final will be contested from 6 p.m. at the same venue.
On Wednesday, a Shanika Williams hat-trick led Jamaica to an easy 6-0 victory over Bahamas in their semi-final. T&T won their semi-final 4-1 over Haiti, but the match was closer than the margin of victory suggested. The Haitian girls put up a great fight, until the final six minutes when they conceded two late goals. Afterwards, the Haitians started behaving badly, forcing Netherlands Antilles referee Alvaro De Silva to eject both goalkeeper Alexandra Coby and central defender Darlene Tilus.
Haiti got a brilliant start and took a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute through their best player Sindy Jeune, who outpaced T&T's defence and slid the ball past keeper Linfar Jones from an angle.
But after a spell of pressure, striker Jo Marie Lewis put the Soca Princesses level at 1-1 in the 18th minute, breaking through the left, and slipping the ball wide of the Haitian keeper Coby. Lewis then put T&T ahead 2-1 in the 32nd minute with a brilliant goal. She turned her marker and chipped the ball over the 'keeper.
For a long time afterwards, the Haitian girls had every chance to pull level. And Jeune could have given them the equaliser when clear through the T&T defence early in the second half. But, she delayed too long and was bundled off the ball by returning defenders. Haiti's problems began when goalkeeper Coby was sent off for deliberately fouling T&T striker Lewis, the hat-trick scorer. In the first half, Coby was quite lucky to have gotten only a yellow card, when she abruptly and deliberately held down Lewis, who had already passed her and was headed towards the open goal. And when Lewis bore down on goal again in the 74th, the Haitian keeper unceremoniously upended her and was sent off. Khadisha Debisette took the penalty, giving T&T a 3-1 lead.
The junior Soca Princesses finally looked safe. And it got worst for Haiti when Lewis struck again on the counter-attack a minute later, toeing the ball past the Haitian keeper to give T&T a fourth goal. The change of fortunes was all too much for the Haitian central defender Tilus, who began repeatedly attacking Lewis. After repeated appeals for help by Lewis, the fourth official spotted the assault and Tilus was sent off. Haiti had played well, but once the game appeared lost, they also forgot their manners.
Results / Girls U-15
T&T 4 (Jo-Marie Lewis 18, 32, 75, Kadidra Debisette 73) v Haiti 1 (Sindy Jeune 4), Marvin Lee Stadium
Jamaica 6 (Shenika Williams 23, 50, 67, Trudi Carter 28, 56, Shuntae Browne 75) v Bahamas 0, Marvin Lee Stadium
Results / Boys U-17
T&T 3 (Shaquille Stewart 52, Jerrel Britto 100+, Ross Russell 112+) v Jamaica 1 (Kayarese Bloomfield 24), Marvin Lee Stadium
Cuba 1 (Humberto Puig 64) v Haiti 1 (Alte Jacques 27), Marvin Lee Stadium
After Penalties
Cuba 5 v Haiti 4
Final Fixtures / Girls U-15
4:00pm, T&T v Jamaica, 10-Aug-08, Marvin Lee Stadium
Final Fixtures / Boys U-17
6:00pm, T&T v Cuba, 10-Aug-08, Marvin Lee Stadium
Both finalists will compete at the CONCACAF Men's U-17 Qualifiers next year.
Full report to follow.
