TT blank Grenadians 4-0

This win followed on the heels of their 4-1 triumph at the Larry Gomes Stadium, Arima two days earlier, and it proved the perfect fillip for the national squad ahead of their May 10 contest against Peru.

Grenada hardly offered any sort of offensive threat in the early stages, but the hosts, who started Trent Noel and Evans Wise in place of Charles and Kerry Baptiste, were slow on the draw, especially rugged defensive midfielder Anthony Rougier, Glasgow and Spann.

Spann seemed ill at ease in the right-back position and often mis-communicated with Anthony Wolfe, with regular Cyd Gray operating in the centre of the defence with Noel, while Wise and Avery John combined well on the left. Rougier’s passes were good, but his mobility in the middle proved a worry while Theobald and Glasgow were initially tentative going forward.

However, Glasgow won a 23rd minute freekick, after he was brought down on the right by Dorset Langainge, and rifled home from close range after Dwayne Leo failed to clear captain Aurtis Whitley’s low spotkick.

Whitley and Wise, functioning in the middle, were a constant bother to the visitors, and they nearly conceded a second in the 39th when the captain found Glasgow on the edge of the penalty box but his right-footer flew over the goal.

A minute later, another promising move involving Rougier, Wise and Whitley resulted in a through ball to Glasgow on the right who centred to Theobald to head home past a flat-footed Grenada goalkeeper Ken Searles.

Trinidad and Tobago extended the lead to 3-0 in the 48th as Charles, who replaced Rougier at the half, met a left-side cross from Wise and planted his header beyond Searles’ reach.

Charles and fellow reserve Kerry Baptiste, who came on for Wolfe, added some speed to the national team’s attack, especially on the right, while Wise and Theobald were irritants to the Grenadians on the left.

Constantly, the TT offence pegged the Grenada backline with moves on either flank but Glasgow, used as the lone striker by coach Leo Beenhakker, either failed to connect or muffed a series of chances during the second half.

In a three-minute spell, Trinidad and Tobago missed a trio of opportunities— in the 55th, Theobald fed Glasgow in the penalty box but the forward directed his left-footer wide, when Wise’s left-footer hit the post and went out of play during a counter-attack and an airborne Searles tipped a Glasgow effort wide after the dreadlocked attacker received a neat pass from John.

Glasgow, in the 68th, was again at the end of a good move on the right, as he collected an accurate pass from Spann but saw his right-footer trickle wide of the mark.

Baptiste’s right-side centre to Glasgow, in the 74th, was handled by Grenada’s captain Eric George inside the penalty box and Searles did not bother to move as Spann sent the penalty to his left.

Teams—

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Clayton Ince (Jan-Michael Williams 46th); Cyd Gray (Brent Rahim 66th), Trent Noel, Avery John, Silvio Spann; Anthony Rougier (David Atiba Charles 46th), Evans Wise, Densil Theobald, Aurtis Whitley (capt) (Glenton Wolfe 66th); Anthony Wolfe (Kerry Baptiste 46th), Gary Glasgow.

GRENADA: Ken Searles; Eric George (capt), Kerron Panchoo, Dorset Langainge, Marvin Frederick; Dwayne Leo, Kitshon Bain (Robinson Morris 84th), Kyle Joseph (Stephen Hood 46th), Shane Rennie (Kendell Frame 77th); Wendell Rennie (Franklyn Baptiste 87th), Nickel Paul (Adrian Scott 58th).