Pierre’s late goal sinks Kenyans

A 90th minute goal by Joe Public striker Nigel Pierre sealed Trinidad and Tobago’s first international football win under new coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier,  a 2-0 victory over Kenya’s Olympic team at the Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi, yesterday. The victory was the first for TT on African soil and should now set the pace for their two remaining matches against Botswana on June 10 and South Africa five days later. TT were coming off a decent display in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Kenya’s Senior team but the homeside’s Olympic team was not to be overridden on the day. They gave their Caribbean counterparts a strong run leading up to their 2004 Olympic qualifier against South Africa later this month.

Kerwyn Jemmot and Travis Mulraine were introduced into the TT starting eleven but the team was guilty of allowing their opponents to see more of the ball in the opening half although they  never allowed the Kenyans to control proccedings. TT’s Scottish-based striker Colin Samuel should have sent the visitors ahead in the 29th minute when the Falkirk man was played through by Mulraine but his low right-footer was saved by a diving  Arnold Origi near the six-yard box. Mulraine also went close when he intercepted a pass in the Kenyan defence but directed his effort high and wide in what was a first half of little excitement for the 2,000-odd fans. Fevrier then introduced Dale Saunders for Spann and Pierre for Jemmot early in the second half as TT, though finding scoring opportunities hard to come by,  enjoyed better possession for much of the remaining 45 minutes.

A neat build-up then broke the deadlock on 64 minutes. Pierre combined with Scotland who held the ball up nicely before giving the oncoming Carlos Edwards to calmly chip the ’keeper from the right top of the six-yard box for a 1-0 TT lead. As the final whistle approached. Pierre, celebrating his 24th birthday, collected a deep clearance from Ince, inside the penalty box and held off a couple defenders before rifling home from close up. T&T line up: 21. Clayton Ince, 2. Brent Sancho, 3. Reynold Carrington, 4. Keyeno Thomas, 5. Dale Saunders, 6. Avery John, 7. Carlos Edwards, 8. Silvio Spann (5. Dale Saunders, 46th), 9. Jason Scotland (15. Conrod Smith, 84th) 11. Colin Samuel (14, Nigel Daniel, 79th) 18. Kerwyn Jemmot (16. Nigel Pierre, 60th), 19. Travis Mulraine (12. Anton Pierre, 79th) Subs not used: 22. Jan Michael Williams, 13. Derek King,