Young Tridents remain perfect and march into semis on Friday

arbados left it late to put Antigua & Barbuda away in their final game of Tier II Group A in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys Challenge. With a +11 goal difference, even a loss to the young Benna Boys would have had little effect on them advancing to the semifinals on Friday.

In the event, the management team opted to field essentially a second eleven for their group finale. Rested was captain Jamarco Johnson, who had scored five times in the three matches prior. Maleek Peters had two. And Sacha Pounder one.

The Antiguans, though, proved to be resilient. Despite the Bajans earning a number of first-half chances, they were unable to get the go-ahead goal within the first 35. For the first time in four games, they were stymied at the interval.

In fact, it was not until after the cooling break 20 minutes into the second period that Barbados truly began to come alive. It might have had something to do with the bit of refreshment, and the opportunity to refine strategy during the break. But more than likely, it was the introduction of the talisman, Johnson.

A student at the St Michael School, and a member of Kickstart Rush Football Club, Johnson has played at this level before. In fact, he was also in the national Under-15 squad in 2023.

Shortly after coming on, he showed off his experience and speed to get to the edge of the 18-yard box, where it took two Antiguan defenders to stop him. In so doing, however, they unceremoniously brought the Barbados captain to the ground, and handed their opponents a free kick.

Pounder, too, had been brought on as a substitute. Another Kickstart man, and a student at St Winifreds School, he it was who stood over the ball. Addressing it perfectly, he unleashed a kick that curled off his left boot into the top corner.

The Bajans were ahead with 11 minutes to go in regulation, and on their way to a perfect record. But they weren’t done just yet.

Once again it was Johnson, navigating his way through Antiguan defenders, and onto the edge of the six-yard box. Denied at close range, the rebound from his shot fell to Pounder, with a chance at a second. The ball was kicked away from his feet, but fell to Peters, himself the first of the substitutes to come on in the first half.

With everyone scrambling, and three minutes remaining until the final clock wound down, the Ellerslie boy kept his cool and collected his third goal of the competition, sealing the deal for Barbados, and making it four wins from four games.

It was the first clean sheet for the young Tridents, after conceding at least one goal in each of their first three fixtures. Pounder was named player of the match, an honour that Johnson and Peter had lifted in earlier games.

Following Tuesday’s slate of games, Barbados is the top team from the Tier II preliminaries. The young Tridents are now set to play the Turks & Caicos Islands on Friday from 4:00 pm at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

(TF)