Cordner nets pair in TT U-20 win

In the earlier game of the evening’s doubleheader, Jamaica strolled past Suriname 2-0 with second half strikes from Venicia Reid in the 75th minutes and Omolyn Davis seven minutes later.

With the result, the Jamaicans assured themselves of a place in the CONCACAF Under-20 Final Round qualifiers in Mexico next January after they defeated the hosts 1-0 on the opening night on Sunday.

Now Trinidad and Tobago need only a draw against Suriname tonight, from seven o’clock, to advance to the final phase. Jamaica will meet Haiti, who have lost their two fixtures, at the Arima venue from 5 pm.

The pint-sized Cordner gave the national team a 12th minute lead but the Haitians equalised through Roseline Joseph in the 39th.

The Tobago-born striker restored TT’s advantage on the stroke of halftime while Barrow put the game beyond Haiti’s reach in the 48th.

TT coach Jamaal Shabazz, while glad with the result, admitted that the team is "still far away from where we’ll like to be.

"Still a lot of work to be done if we are to reach the CONCACAF level." Concerning the areas in need of improvement, Shabazz noted, "defensively, closing the down (plays), attacking the ball, organising ourselves collectively to win it back. Definitely, defensively, we need a lot more work.

"Sometimes you do work and you think it’s enough but the game is the best avenue to detect the work we’ve done," he added. "And it’s far from enough."

Shabazz tinkered with the starting lineup, with goalkeeper Kimika Forbes, defender Christine Rose and midfielder Jemilia Mathlin replacing Trisha Lawrence, Patrice Superville and Janine Francois respectively.

The national coach commented, "I thought they made a good effort but still the performance was way below what I expect and what we’re aiming for."

For today’s game, Shabazz plans to "try to get in a (few) new faces to get a taste of what it’s like at this level, but still try to maintain a good strength in the team." The top three teams from this CFU qualifiers will join two Central American teams (including Panama), Canada, the United States and the Mexicans in the eight-team competition, with three teams progressing to the 2006 FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Champion-ships in Russia.