It will be the battle of the unbeatens for the Tier II title as the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys Challenge nears its climax, with Barbados and Bermuda extending their win streaks in Friday’s semifinals.
A soggy afternoon at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Bajan boys against the Turks & Caicos Islands.
Heavy showers finally abated just after the 4:00 pm kickoff, but the outfield remained sticky. That slowed down Barbados’ usual fast flowing attack, making passing difficult.
The Turks & Caicos Islanders adapted better in the early going, outshooting Barbados 6-5 at the interval. But after 35 minutes, the halftime whistle went with the game goalless.
Amari Small was ever-present, and he popped up again in the 47th minute. Small won the ball, and carried down the right wing, before crossing to captain Jamarco Johnson, who flicked on for Rajari Rollins.
Rollins had the ball flicked away from him, but Johnson picked it up on the edge of the 18-yard box. The skipper skipped past two defenders, and poked the ball into the box. The pass beat Peters, who flailed at it.
But it fell again to Small just outside the six-yard box, and he made no mistake. Small swung his left foot and got past the custodian for the one-nil lead.
20 minutes from normal time, with one foot already in the final, a nifty bit of dribbling by Trey Barker resulted in some shirt pulling and an attempted kick by his TCI defender. That led to a free kick just on the edge of the box, taken by Small. He lofted over the three-man wall to the near post, for Barker to glance it home with a delicate touch at close range and extend the Barbados advantage.
And it was Small coming up big once again in the 63rd minute, pressing and eventually dispossessing a TCI defender in the box. The ensuing opportunity fell to Maleek Peters, who calmly slotted home to end the contest.
Barbados ended up with a 3-0 win, their second consecutive clean sheet. The Combermere man, Small, unsurprisingly was awarded player of the match for the second time in this tournament.
“It’s been a joy. We came out three-love, victorious. Just extraordinary play,” said team manager Dale Rudder. “I am here with the guys, we in the dressing room just representing the blue and yellow, everybody proud of Barbados.
“It was a really challenging first half, playing on the extremely wet surface, which was different from what we played on for the earlier part of the tournament. But yes, victorious, and I always thought we would come through. Just wanna tell Barbados, we are proud to be here, and this is Barbados football!”
The young Tridents now advance to the final, which will be played on Sunday from 2:30 pm at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Scarborough.
Their opponents will be a team that has been just as impressive as Barbados, if not more so. The young Gombey Warriors defeated Anguilla 6-0 in the second semifinal.
In the group stages, Bermuda also won all four of their group games, scoring 20 goals in Group C, and allowing just one. Barbados scored 18 and allowed five in Group A.
The Bajans will have to be wary of Jeon Wolfe and Zydon Lightbourne Furbert, who got to the semifinal with seven and six goals, respectively. Wolfe scored a hat trick against Anguila. Johnson, though, has five goals of his own, including a hat trick, and the battle for CFU gold should be a thriller.
(TF)
