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Whitleys Equalizer silences the OFFICE Kingston, Jamaica: Mar 26th 2008 Source: socawarriors.net A last gasp equalizer by skipper Aurtis Whitley silenced the National Stadium in Kingston and pushed Trinidad and Tobago to a come from behind two-goal deficit in Wednesdays intriguing 2-2 draw with Jamaica before some 20,000 odd fans at the Office. Going into the game without several of its more household names including the last minute absence of Sunderland duo Kenwyne Jones, Carlos Edwards and Toronto FCs Collin Samuel, the Soca Warriors earned a well deserved draw with the Rene Simoes-coached Reggae Boyz. Jamaica surged into what appeared to be a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break with first half goals by Marlon King (34th) and Tyrone Marshall (41st). And those two goals came just when Whitleys men began to settle and look the better of the two teams. The hosts had the first try at goal on six minutes when Luton Shelton headed over bar following Omar Daleys lay over. T&T had a first half goal disallowed before Jamaica got their opener from King in the 34th minute and then Marshall six minutes later. But T&T hit back in the second half. Aside from a Keon Daniel free kick which went just over bar and then a free hit which Khaleem Hyland blasted wide, T&T produced a spirited performance. Substitute Osei Telesford, coming on to play a defensive midfielder position ran on to a ball from Darryl Roberts and fired home with his right foot. Then Whitley tied the scores with a well taken effort which took a deflection of Keyeno Thomas and flew into the net to send the T&T contingent into a frenzy. Before kick off they embraced each other and after the game they exchanged telephone numbers and promised to stay in touch. But the outcome of the 90 minutes didnt exactly leave them with the same feelings. Jamaican head coach Rene Simoes admitted that he was a disappointed man with seeing the Soca Warriors come from two goals down to snatch a draw with the Reggae Boyz before some 20,000 odd fans at the National Stadium in Kingston on Wednesday. For Maturana though, guiding a partly inexperienced outfit to a result away from home was yet another plus after the 1-0 victory over El Salvador a week earlier at the Marvin Lee Stadium. Goals by substitute Osei Telesford and a last-gasp equalizer from captain Aurtis Whitley silenced the Office. Jamaica had eleven of its overseas pros in their squad while T&T fielded just Dutch-based striker Darryl Roberts and goalie Jan Michael Williams who has been moving around Europe over the last few weeks, still without a stable contract. Charleston Batterys Randi Patterson was the other overseas starter while goalscorer Osei Telesford is in search of a club in the USA. The rest of the bunch included 16-year-old defender Akeem Adams, 22-year-old defender Makan Hislop, Kern Cupid, Kerry Baptiste, 19-year-old midfielder Khaleem Hyland and 21-year-old midfielder Keon Daniel. Only Keyeno Thomas and skipper Aurtis Whitley went into the game with any kind of heavy experience. Teenage forward Jamaal Gay and defender Akile Edwards also made second half appearances. T&T went into the game with fifteen players after the late withdrawal of Sunderland duo Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards plus the non-arrival of Toronto FC winger Collin Samuel. I think today I was pleased with the result and the effort, Maturana told TTFF Media after the game. The boys deserve credit for showing all the heart and fighting to the end. That is what we need and we got it today. Aurtis scored an important goal and the team never gave up. We never gave the game to Jamaica and this is what I wanted. I know it was always going to be hard no Jones, no Carlos and then no Collin Samuel. But the team kept on playing and I was happy with the draw. There is still a lot of work to complete because you can see there are areas we need to be better in. We will keep on working. Assistant coach Anton Corneal further stated: We started this team a few weeks ago and we decided to stick with it. This is in trying to secure the future. It took a lot from young players to come from two goals down here in Kingston. We have followed the hosts and that meant our team deserved the credit to come back the way it did. Simoes, the Brazilian once in charge of the T&T team, thought his outfit would kill off the visitors. Today was a little bit hard for the supporters after they saw the first half and they expected that we would kill the Trinidadians. When things are not going good its my responsibility. Its the coach you have to look at. That's where we have to look and say ah, its a bad result, Simoes said. This is the time to watch the players and take decisions. The last game you were so proud here when we tied the game in the last minute. Today was Trinidad but I did not want that. President Camps as I love you but I dont want you with the smile here in Jamaica. I want you to go back upset, Simoes said in the post game conference with TTFF President Oliver Camps and JFF boss Captain Horace Burrell in the audience. But I have to congratulate you and coach Maturana who is a very experienced coach. I think he is doing a wonderful job, Simoes added. He urged the Jamaican public to be kind to the players as they are working non stop to attaint the winning results. I am 56... no problem. You can do with me what you want, he added. Jamaican captain Marlon King, the scorer of the opener goal, said the game was learning one for his side. Today was a learning curve for us. We had a young squad and its a learning process. We will take the mistakes out and the positives from this game. The draw was a good experience for us today especially for the young lads. Youve seen how with the quality that Trinidad has that they can turn the game anytime. Trinidad had a whole lot of heart and we got punished but we will move on to the next games. To go forward you have to make mistakes and we will learn from it. Its just unfortunately that we couldnt come away with the win but all credit to Trinidad and Tobago for coming back, King added.The T&T team returns home at 8:30pm on Thursday night. |
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