Mission not yet accomplished. That was the general feeling in the T&T Soca Warriors camp, after they enjoyed a comprehensive 10-0 thrashing of Anguilla in their closing Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Cup Group Five fixture at Warner Park Stadium, Basseterre on Sunday night. Caledonia AIA forward Jamal Gay led the way with a first-half beaver-trick (7th, 21st, 32nd, 38th), while Philadelphia Union midfielder, Keon Daniel, also struck a hattrick (11th, 35th, 40th) before the interval, to leave the "Soca Warriors" ahead 7-0 at the break.
Vietnam-based Willis Plaza, who replaced Daniel at the interval, notched a double in the 53rd and 63rd minutes, while debutant Sylvester Teesdale added in the 71st, to leave T&T sitting pretty at the top of the table with nine points, scoring 15 goals and conceding one in three matches. The last time T&T were that dominant in a competitive outing was in 1989 in a Caribbean Cup qualifier, defeating Aruba 11-0 in St George's. Despite the overwhelming win, coach Hutson "Barber" Charles admitted yesterday that T&T had work to do. "We did what we came here to do which was to get nine points.
We achieved that, but the mission is far from over," Charles said. He noted that the next round of competition will be a lot tougher. "We have already started planning. We had a meeting earlier today and we have already been communicating with the others back home about the preparations for the next stage. We will be looking at some of the possible additions." Charles said the results meant a lot, particularly for the players. "Hopefully we are sending the right signals," Charles added. The match started half an hour late due to inclement weather.
There was heavy overnight rain which continued for much of Sunday morning with the island being under Tropical Storm alert. Next up, T&T will play at home from November 14-18 when they host Cuba, Suriname and the runners up from among another first round group being contested by Guyana, St Vincent/Grenadines, St Lucia and Curacao from next week. French Guiana blanked host St Kitts/Nevis 3-0 in the night's second match and also advanced to the second round. The Soca Warriors were expected home last night barring flight delays out of St Kitts and Antigua due to the weather conditions.
T&T TEAM
Jan Michael Williams (capt), Carlyle
Mitchell (Kareem Moses 54th), Seon
Power, Daneil Cyrus, Joevin Jones,
Sylvester Teesdale, Clyde Leon, Hughtun
Hector, Keon Daniel (Willis Plaza 46th),
Kevon Carter, Jamal Gay (Devorn Jorsling
46th)
FINAL STANDINGS
Teams P W D L F APts
T&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .3 .0 .0 .15 . .1 . .9
French Guiana . . . . .3 .2 .0 . .1 . .8 . .5 . .6
St Kitts/Nevis . . . . .3 . .1 .0 . .2 . .2 . .4 . .3
Anguilla . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .0 .0 . .3 . .1 .16 . .0