Dwight’s mother:

Grace Yorke, mother of Soca Warriors captain Dwight Yorke, said despite the loss to England yesterday, she was buoyed by the way the team fought in their second World Cup match.

“I feel good despite the loss,” she said in an interview at the Yorkes’ family home in Canaan, in the western end of Tobago.

“We gave them a hard fight but we should have won. We should have scored those goals when we got the chances,” she added, the disappointment clearly showing on her face, the right cheek painted in the national colours.

Still, after the match, in which England defeated the Warriors 2-0, there was a thread of optimism.

“I am satisfied with the game. Paraguay have to keep their head on because we coming full throttle,” said Dwight’s good friend, Gary Cadiz.

It was a cosmopolitan mix of football fans who gathered at the Yorkes for the “mother of all battles” for the Soca Warriors.

“Win, lose or draw, we are here for the Warriors,” one fan said as the match progressed.

The “ooohs” and “aaahs” rang out from the TT fans whenever the Warriors got into English space in the penalty area. “Shoot, shoot!” they urged in unison. Everyone, except the Yorkes’ English visitors, of course, literally flew in the air when Stern John scored in the dying minutes of the game. His effort was ruled offside.

But the crowd that gathered for the match was even larger than the one that came to see the TT/Sweden clash, with the English posse led by Garry Cliyton.

Cliyton said he was relieved at the result. “Trinidad and Tobago defended really well and should have scored in the last stages of the game. Anyway, you guys can go on and get those points against Paraguay,” he added.

Cliyton, who is currently on vacation in Tobago, was among several English nationals who took in the game on a large plasma TV set at the Yorkes’ home.

But the glum faces at the Yorkes’ residence told the story. When the English scored again, they went silent. The celebrations at the house might have been subdued after the match but even this did not dampen people’s appetite. “The food’s certainly not going to waste,” one person exclaimed.