Losing badly in the opener put us squarely up against the proverbial eight ball; Trinidad’s San Juan Jabloteh defeated Nicaragua’s Real Estrie 2-1 to be well placed at second. Earlier today, the Nicaraguans lost again 4-0 to the Mexicans, who now qualify to the next round, the quarterfinals; Nicaragua is already eliminated with two losses.
We started our game brightly, scoring in the 8th minute as striker Demarco Thorne struck at the near post to give us an early 1-0 lead. Our refocused team unit continued to probe and penetrate all over, as Kellijah Morgan burst down the left flank twice to bring out desperate tackles, a corner, and clearance before he evaded Jabloteh once again to lob the goalkeeper but the ball rested on the roof of the net. Thorne kept driving goal-ward, and his next effort got pass the goalkeeper but unfortunately the post to be cleared. Skipper Rojaughn Joseph’s shot was blocked, and his header from Delroy Jones’ delivery was sent wide of the far post. SJJ sent long passes and delivered good dead balls from deep, and one such glanced off of the head of a forward to score and equalize in minute 25. The excitement continued but score remained unchanged to keep it at 1-1 at halftime.
Both technical teams must have expressed the importance of a victory upon their units as they went all out looking to win. Our short, snappy passes aimed to penetrate and lead, while SJJ added a defender to the lineup and sent more long, searching missiles. We again dominated possession, Kellijah Morgan was on top of his game to lead the team. He broke through the blockade to kick twice, but the first was saved at the near post and the second chipped delicately onto the far upright then scrambled away for a corner. Thorne, his strike-partner, penetrated the other side but the tall goalkeeper stood between them. Tyrese Williams’ excellent defensive role converted into his more natural attacking plays with passes, crosses and squares.
SJJ tried launching sporadic attacks with long-range shots which were handled capably by our alert goalkeeper, Anthony Bennett.
With 3 minutes left on the clock, our Man-of-the-Match, Kellijah Morgan, switched sides to penetrate and cross to the streaking Tyrese Williams at the back post. 9 yards out, Tyrese miskicked as the ball hit on his left foot to roll comfortably to SJJ’s grateful goalkeeper, who must’ve given up all hope to save what looked to be a threatening ball. Opportunities were missed, but the 100% effort of our boys must be admired to rebound quickly from yesterday’s loss. We played positively to dominate the entire game, a game we should’ve won, but a final 1-1 draw may not be enough.
To improve our position to advance today we had to beat SJJ today, and get more points tomorrow. To advance, we have one last chance to win handsomely tomorrow, and hope that the Mexicans keep their winning record to defeat SJJ so we may get a superior goal difference to secure the second spot in our group. We gear up to go for the victory.
Starting XI:
Goalkeeper- Anthony Bennett
Defenders- Delroy Jones (left back), Warner Brown (centre half), Jaequan Marshalleck (centre half), Rasheed Willis (right back)
Midfielders- Rojaughn Joseph (defensive), Romali Miller (defensive), Kellijah Morgan (attacking), Tyrieke Spaulding (attacking), Tyrese Williams (attacking)
Forward- Demarco Thorne
Substitutes:
Damain Robinson (GK), Keastner Sturridge, Kevaughn Wilson, Damoy Whitehorne, Howard Anglin