T&T’s men’s Under-20 team went down 2-1 to Martinique in its second outing in as many days at the Guadeloupe six-nation Tournament on Sunday evening at Capesterre-Belle-Eau.
Following the team’s 2-0 loss to Costa Rica the previous evening, T&T, captained by Judah Garcia on the day went into the match hoping to come out with a favourable result. Head Coach Russell Latapy made a few changes to his starting team from Saturday’s encounter in an attempt to get fresh legs on the park as well as use the opportunity to present playing time to more members of his squad. T&T played its second encounter in as many days with Martinique playing Costa Rica in the previous match on Friday, losing 3-0 to the Central Americans.
Martinique took a 20th-minute lead and grabbed a second from a dubious penalty in the 50th minute for a 2-0 lead. Halftime substitute John Paul Rochford would pull a goal back for T&T in the 68th minute when Kishon Hackshaw got around his man on the left corner before crossing into the area for Rochford to hit home the first time.
Head Coach Russell Latapy later spoke about the match.
“It was a tough, scrappy and physical game. We gave up two goals on two defensive mistakes which are not acceptable at this level, but then again we’ve come here to get the playing time and these things are not unexpected from us at this stage considering we haven’t had much international experience,” Latapy told TTFA Media.
“We made some changes from the first game with it taking a lot out of us and this one also was a physically demanding on the players with very little recovery time after we played the day before. We lacked a bit more quality in the final third and we had some decisions which went against us. The young referees made some mistakes and it caused tempers to boil over which resulted in players from both teams clashing near the end. It’s the first time our boys were encountering something like this in an international match. These type of things among other aspects are what we’ll take away with us from the encounter. Also, it is learning to stay focused and sticking to the game plan instead of having our mental concentration throw off,” Latapy added.
T&T was scheduled to play French Guiana last afternoon in the play-off for fifth place while Costa Rica will take on Haiti in the Final. Haiti beat French Guiana 1-0 in the second outing on Sunday. T&T is preparing for CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying in November.
T&T LINE UP
20. Jabari Brice, 12. Darnell Hospedales, 2. Kerdel Sween, 4. Jabari Graham (5.Jessie Williams 63’), 3. Deron John, 8. Anthony Samuel (14.Darnell Charles 60’), 10. Judah Garcia (Capt), 16. Isa Bramble (11.Jordan Riley 46’) 17. Shake em Joseph (15. John Paul Rochford 46’), 6. Brandon Semper (9. Jayden Prowell 46’), 13. Kishon Hackshaw.
Subs not used – 1. Denzil Smith, 7.Shem Clauzel,
Head Coach – Russell Latap
