T&T, St Lucia win in latest matches
Trinidad & Tobago and Saint Lucia were the only two Caribbean Football Union (CFU) teams to win in the final games of the Concacaf Nations League on Friday.
Ryan Telfer scored and provided an assist in the Soca Warriors’ 3-0 win over hosts and CFU rivals The Bahamas in Group C of League B, and St. Lucia continued their unbeaten run in Group C of League C continued with a tough win -fought 2-1 win over Anguilla.
But it was heavy losses for CFU pairing Grenada and St. Vincent & the Grenadines to the United States and Nicaragua respectively that knocked them out of contention.
T&T took the lead in the fifth minute at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, when a blocked shot fell at the feet of Kareem Moses and his long-range right foot shot into the top left corner of the net.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 26th minute when Telfer rushed down the right flank and sent into the center of the box and Joevin Jones had easy work to get into the net.
Eight minutes later, Telfer gave the Bahamas the lead when he conceded a pass from Alvin Jones and missed home-side goalkeeper Ian Lowe with a commanding finish.
The result gave T&T 12 points from five games and sets up a winner’s take-all contest against Nicaragua on home soil on Monday’s final matchday, in which the winner will earn promotion to League A and a place in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup earned.
Andrus Remy got St. Lucia rolling in the 17th minute at Raymond Guishard Stadium in The Valley, Anguilla as Gregson President led a fine team effort from the visitors.
President deftly passed the ball to Jevick MacFarlane, who then threw in a cross that found his head in the six-yard box to allow the forward to comfortably finish the job and score his second goal of the tournament, his first also coming against Anguilla last summer.
The St. Lucians extended their lead in first-half injury time from a corner kick when President smashed in a ball that crept past all defenders towards the back post.
The Anguillaners reduced the deficit in the 76th minute when Jalen Smeins set up substitute Lamar Carpenter on the top of the 18-yard box for a blast that was deflected to the bottom left corner of the net. This led to a dramatic final 15 minutes as the hosts looked for an equalizer they were never able to achieve.
St Lucia have now won three in a row and have one more game against Dominica on Monday at Daren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet before they head off to the Gold Cup preliminary competition later this summer.
Hosts Grenada fell behind early on against the United States at Kirani James Stadium in St George’s and were outclassed later in the game, despite Myles Hippolyte deflecting a left-footed cross from Jacob Bthe erkeley Agyepong in the 32nd minute to turn it around make sure they don’t leave empty-handed.
The trio of Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie teamed up to help the Americans win.
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