Nathaniel "Natty" James for a second time was the saviour for T&T.
The young striker, coming in as a second-half substitute for Ryan Telfer, stepped up from a free kick atop the Guatemalan box and curled the ball over the Guatemalan wall and past goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen for the 3-2 victory in the Concacaf Nations League 'A' match at the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo in Port-of-Spain on Friday night.
The win pushed T&T to nine points in Group A and literally gave them a foot into the quarterfinals.
Guatemala drew first blood in the 12th minute from one of their many attacks down the left flank.
A well-floated pass found an unmarked Nathaniel Mendez on the right side of the T&T area, and despite being confronted by Ross Russell Jr, the lanky Mendez cut inside and hit a shot inside that was stabbed in the goal by a lurking Rubio Mendez for a 1-0 advantage.
The goal lifted the visitors who later sought to increase their attacks. However, the Warriors were hit harder when lone striker Tyrone Charles had to be stretched off the field when he got a knock in the centre of the field.
Mendez almost scored another to increase the Guatemala lead from a defensive blunder that handed him the ball on top of the T&T area, however, his rasping shot was pushed wide by a flying Denzil Smith in the 27th minute.
But he could do nothing in the 31st minute as the visitors pushed their tally to two. This time Alejandro Galindo was given room on the right side, and then lifted the ball inside to Oscar Santis whose one-time shot came off the body of Alvin Jones. However, Santis was given another shot at goal, and scored that time, as the ball crashed against the upright before going into the goal.
In the fluctuating affair, T&T came close when Noah Power, fed on the left by Michel Poon Angeron, would cut inside on his right foot, but his shot took a deflection before going wide.
T&T then sought redemption from a build-up down the left that was shifted to Powder on the right side.
Powder confronted by his marker was hacked down inside the box, forcing the referee to point to the penalty spot in the 34th minute.
Alvin Jones then smashed the ball into the roof of the net for T&T's opening goal.
Substitute Reon Moore was guilty of an easily missed chance in the six-yard box before the Guatemalans escaped at the halfway stage with a 2-1 advantage.
However, when the teams returned to the pitch, the Warriors, spurred on by the crowd, would get the equaliser.
This time the Guatemalan defence failed to clear the ball from Ryan Telfer's left-side corner, and Moore swooped in to turn in the loose ball in the 53rd minute.
Both teams traded punches in the moments that followed but it was the Warriors that escaped with the victory.
Results
T&T 3 (Alvin Jones 34th penalty, Reon Moore 54th, Nathaniel James 89th) vs Guatemala 2 (Rubio Mendez 12th, Oscar Santis 31st)
