Trinidad & Tobago		Haiti
Marvin Andrews (35') Arnold Dwarika (74') Dwight Yorke (76')

FIFA World Cup™ Qualifier

Date	Venue	Location	Attendance
2000-05-07	Hasely Crawford Stadium	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	25000

One down, one to go

This was the chant from newly-appointed Trinidad and Tobago skipper Russell Latapy and his teammates after they took care of Haiti 3-1 in the first leg of their 2002 third round World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday evening. The result means that Haiti will have to beat T&T by two clear goals in the return leg on May 19 in Port-au-Prince. But while their first mission has been accomplished, the men in red, white and black cannot rest easy after another below par performance. Indeed, had it not been for substitute Stern John, T&T may well have not had a substantial cushion to talk about today. Surprisingly, left out of the starting XI by coach Ian Porterfield, John came on in the second half and created the two goals which may eventually take T&T through to the semi-final round of the Football Confederation series. The 23-year-old Nottingham Forest striker brought an estimated 20,000 crowd to life in the 74th minute when he induced Haitian defender Bruny Pierre Richard to bring him down in the box after collecting a through ball from England-based teammate Dwight Yorke inside the penalty area. Jamaican referee Peter Pendergast did not hesitate once John, who had turned deftly on Pierre Richard, hit the turf. And Arnold Dwarika made no mistake from the spot, beating keeper Geteau Ferdinand to his right to put the home team up 2-0. Three minutes later there was even more euphoria when Yorke scored the goal that should have slammed the door shut on Haiti. Once again it was John who set up the chance. Collecting a right-side cross from Dwarika inside the penalty box after beating the off-side trap, John shot goalward as keeper Ferdinand rushed off his line for a block. The keeper partially blocked the ball but could only look on helplessly as it banged off the first post and rebounded to Yorke who had the simple task of tapping into an empty net for his first goal of the campaign. This was the signal the crowd needed to begin wild celebrations. Until then, they had to be coaxed into cheering the team on by nutsman “Jumbo”. In a 3-5-2 set, Porterfield’s decision to go with both Anthony Rougier and Dennis Lawrence—both stronger defensively—in the middle of the park with Latapy, left the brunt of the work to the Little Magician. Wingers Stokely Mason (left) and Angus Eve (right) also failed to provide the impetus needed early on, especially with the latter seeing very little of the ball and the former having an under par day. Still, T&T managed to dominate most of the play, but the Haitians—led by key midfielder Sebastien Vorbe—were unable to crack the T&T defence commandeered by Man of the Match Marvin Andrews. But, having seen the few chances his teammates created go abegging, Andrews provided the initial spark T&T needed in the 34th minute. Taking up his position just inside the penalty area as Latapy took a curling left-side corner, Andrews rushed into the six metre box and rose above the defence to beat Ferdinand with a well placed header. Then came John’s sterling entrance in the second half. But even after they were down 3-0, the Haitians refused to die. And that determination paid off on the stroke of full time when striker Golman Pierre beat T&T keeper Clayton Ince, who until then had had a brilliant game, to give his team a possible life line for the return leg. SCORE T&T 3 (Marvin Andrews 34th, Arnold Dwarika 74th penalty, Dwight Yorke 77th) v Haiti 1 (Golman Pierre 89th) Teams T&T—Clayton Ince, Shurland David, Marvin Andrews, Ansil Elcock, Stokely Mason, Anthony Rougier, Dennis Lawrence (Stern John 46th), Angus Eve, Russell Latapy, Arnold Dwarika (Carlos Edwards 85th), Dwight Yorke Haiti—Geteau Ferdinand, Jean Roland Dartiguenave, Bruny Pierre Richard, Roosevelt Desir, Ernst Athis (Wilfrid Montilas 78th), Franz Gilles, Sebastien Vorbe, Carlo Marcelin, Chrismonor Thelusma, Golman Pierre, Jean Rebert Menalas (Vladimir Edouard 46th)

LINEUP
21.	Clayton Ince
4.	Marvin Andrews
6.	Shurland David
13.	Ansil Elcock
7.	Dennis Lawrence
	14' Stern John
9.	Arnold Dwarika
	85' Carlos Edwards
8.	Angus Eve
10.	Russell Latapy (capt.)
16.	Stokely Mason
17.	Anthony Rougier
19.	Dwight Yorke
SUBSTITUTES
12.	Carlos Edwards
14.	Stern John 80 '
22.	Ross Russell
5.	Brent Sancho
15.	Lyndon Andrews
3.	Sherwyn Julien
11.	Nigel Pierre
COACH
	Ian Porterfield
SUBSTITUTIONS
14'	Stern John for Dennis Lawrence
85'	Carlos Edwards for Arnold Dwarika
YELLOW CARDS
80'	Stern John