Fighting TT edge Bermuda footballers 1-0

Trinidad and Tobago’s senior footballers produced a fighting performance to kick off their preparation for a 2006 World Cup qualification bid with a 1-0 victory over hosts Bermuda on Tuesday at the National Sports Centre. A 63rd minute strike by Cornell Glenn was all that separated the two teams in a keenly contested match. Skipper Angus Eve’s outfit showed signs of rustiness as it was the national team’s first outing since a 2-0 win over Cuba last November. It was also the first competitive match for the  players following the end of the TT Pro League season. The Ron La Forest coached side was afforded a morale boosting win and will be looking to end on a better victory note today when the teams clash again at the same venue. TT took some time to settle and the Bermudians hardly waited before having a go at them.

Inside the opening 15 minutes, goalkeeper Kevin Graham, making his senior debut, had his goal shot at on three occasions. Glenn had TT’s first effort which, for the Bermudians, went harmless over bar following a quick free kick. A barrage of Bermuda crosses continued for the first half hour as the TT defenders Derek King, Cyd Gray, Anton Pierre, Ansil Elcock and Stokely Mason were forced to run hard to keep the scoreline even. As half time approached, TT settled and began stringing passes around, looking dangerous going forward in spurts. Eve had the best chance when he latched onto a pass on the run but shot powerfully against on-rushing goalkeeper Troy Hall from near the six-yard box. On the resumption Glenn then took his goal with utmost  calm and precision to silence the 3,000 odd Bermudians at the venue who had been cheering loudly for their team.

He collected a pass from Eve and fought off three defenders atop the centre of the box before placing the ball to the left of the outstretched keeper. The final minutes of the match did not lack goalmouth action as Graham had to save well to deny the home side who had Kentour Jennings sent off in the 75th minute for making contact with the ball with Gray near the touch-line. Bermudian coach Kenny Thompson later said his team took a lot of positives away from the encounter. “I think we performed extremely well but our finishing was not up to standard because we could have won if we had converted our chances.We can take a lot of positives out of this match. We actually played well in the 2-0 loss to Barbados and we did similar today. It is important that we try to win on Thursday and you  can expect us to come at the Trinidad and Tobago side again with full force,” Thompson said.
 
TT coach La Forest said he is hopeful of a more lively performance from his team in the second outing today. “The victory was a vitally important one for us being the start of the 2006 effort. There are some areas we need to sharpen up on particularly in the defensive part of the field. It was obvious that some of our players were a bit rusty today but this will improve as we play more matches,” La Forest said after the match. He credited the work of a few of the players saying: “Cornell had a good match and Angus showed good leadership qualities. The young goalkeeper also had a good debut. We want to roll the ball around as much as we can and I know we have season campaigners in the team and I am expecting  that we will settle early and control more of the match on Thursday.”

TT line up: Kevin Graham, Derek King, Ansil Elcock, Anton Pierre, Stokely Mason, Cyd Gray, Travis Mulraine, Trent Noel (Conrod Smith, 59th), Angus Eve, Aurtis Whitley (Garvin McKenna, 88th), Cornell Glenn