Stalemate
at The Office
published: Thursday | March 27, 2008
CAPTAIN AURTIS Whitely rifled a spectacular left-footed goal
in the 90th minute to earn Trinidad and Tobago a 2-2 draw
against the
Reggae
Boyz as the Caribbean heavyweights clashed in a friendly
international at the National Stadium last night.
Marlon King (34th) and Tyrone Marshall (40th)
scored for Jamaica, while Osei Telesford (74th) and Whitely
netted for the Trinidadians. The Reggae Boyz were totally
dominant with their foreign-based cast heavily numbered on the
pitch and that level of superiority was mirrored in a 2-0
half-time lead.
But as technical director Rene Simoes rang
the changes to create a heavy influx of local-based players in
the second half, the balance shifted gradually, then decisively
into the visitors' favor as they clawed their way back to a draw
that left the crowd upset, booing the team that had led
comfortably until the 74th-minute. After a rather nervous start
by both sides, the more experienced Jamaicans started exuding a
fair amount of composure to dominate possession and pick apart
the Trinidadians with dominant midfield play from the skilful
Demar Phillips, mixed with the pace of Omar Daley on the right
flank which was instrumental in the opening goal.
Jamaica created the first scoring chance in
the fifth minute with a nice movement engineered on the right
when King lifted a pass over the fullback along the flank and
Daley sped to the byline and delivered a pass to the back post.
Luton Shelton could not get enough elevation for a comfortable
header and nodded the ball over the goal. Within three
minutes, another right-sided movement utilizing Daley's speed
produced an open opportunity with a square to the other side of
the goal for O'brian Woodbine, but the Reno midfielder's first
touch spooned the chance to goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams.
The writing was on the wall and the Reggae
Boyz duly launched into the lead in the 34th minute when
Phillips played a lovely pass down the left side for King. The
striker controlled perfectly with a defender Keyeno Thomas goal
side and, in almost one movement, turned 90 degrees to face the
goal side on. He then curled a beautiful shot, a real striker's
goal, beyond the fully-stretched goalkeeper inside the far post
to spark wild celebrations. Before they had settled, Tyrone
Marshall had the fair-sized crowd on its feet bawling for goal
again at the 36th minute following a short corner played to
Rudolph Austin. He drifted between defenders then lifted a cross
to the six-yard box. Shelton's off target
header found Marshall
unmarked, and he finished clinically, only for the goal to be
waved offside.
With Jamaica maintaining the pressure,
Marshall, the Jamaican captain in the absence of the injured
Ricardo Gardner, scored for real four minutes later when he took
a well-measured diagonal pass from Phillips behind the defense
and kept a stride ahead of two defenders while bearing down on
goal, before angling a shot across Williams into the
side-netting on the far side of the goal. Like Jamaica, Trinidad
and Tobago also had a goal disallowed - very marginal - for
offside, one which also emanated from a set play. In the 13th
minute, a strike from Makan Hislop was waved off after the
striker and central defender Keyeno Thomas raced in front of
Jamaica goalie Donovan Ricketts to pick off Keno Daniel's
curling left-footed free kick. The custodian blocked Thomas'
shot but Hislop turned in the rebound only to have his
celebration abbreviated by the linesman's flag. That apart, the
lesser experienced Trinidadians again reacted quickly to another
Daniel free kick on the left, this one served up to the back
post, but Marshall's intervention denied Randi Patterson a clear
header.
They would almost concede an-other goal on
the stroke of half-time when Phillips was fed a cheeky pass
inside the penalty box, but he was called offside after he
controlled and put the ball past Michael into the net. Though
Deon Burton, who replaced King at the break, fired an open
chance wide of the far post, the local-based squaddies in the
Jamaica side - six in total who were introduced during the
second half - only served to highlight their inexperience and
hurt their cause of winning a place in the team gearing towards
World Cup qualification in June by dribbling too much to
squander possession easily when passing options were rife.
Trinidad and Tobago, with a largely local-based team as well,
took advantage by reducing the deficit when substitute Telesford
was left free on the left side facing goal after the ball was
nodded down by a cross, and he hit the ball past substitute
goalie Duwayne Kerr. Another substitute, Khaleem Hyland, missed
agreat chance to equalise by firing wide but Aurtis, who took a
ball headed out from defence, hit a spectacular shot to tie the
game.