A thunderous strike from defender Kareem Moses, coupled with two carefully crafted goals from captain Joevin Jones and Ryan Telfer, guided the T&T Soca Warriors to a comfortable 3-0 win over the Bahamas in their penultimate match in Group C of the CONCACAF Nations League Friday at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
The Warriors might have had a fourth goal, but after T&T’s new-found midfielder Kaile Auvray curled the ball past goalkeeper Ian Lowe from a freekick on top of the area, Moses swooped in to head home ahead of defender Phieron Wilson, but the linesman waved offside.
It was a victory that put the T&T men on 12 points at the top of the group but Nicaragua, who was on 10 points yesterday, was expected to plunge into action against St Vincent and the Grenadines, last night.
It means whether the Nicaraguans win, loss or draw, the winner of the group which will earn automatic qualification for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, as well as be promoted to Group ‘A’ in the region, will be determined on Monday when the teams (T&T/Nicaragua) clash at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago.
The Bahamians are still battling to ensure they stay up in League B in the region.
Coach Angus Eve lost more than three players for the encounter for different reasons, but it hardly showed with each player stepping up to produce an overall commanding performance.
The game was just five minutes old when Auvray used his speed to perfection down the left side and centred for the oncoming Daniel Phillips on top of the Bahamian box, but his powerful attempt cannoned off a defender, before the ball fell nicely for Moses to let fly, powerfully past Lowe for a 1-0 lead.
The goal eased the early nerves exhibited by the T&T players as they sought to possess the ball thereafter, as they attacked. However, the Bahamians may feel they should have scored in the 10th minute. Quinton Carey, operating on the right side, was served during a rare Bahamas build-up, and when he picked out the unmarked Christopher Rahming facing goalkeeper Nicklas Frenderup all alone in the 10th minute with a lifted cross, the lanky midfielder failed to direct his header on target.
It was one that they had let slip and were later made to pay for it in the 26th minute.
Telfer, who tortured the Bahamian defenders all afternoon long, would again exhibit blinding speed to get past Wilson on the right side, and when he centred, he presented captain Joevin Jones with the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net for a 2-0 advantage.
Still, they were far from finish, with the half-time interval a distance away.
In the 34th minute, Telfer, the architect of his team’s second goal, was now at the receiving end of a through-ball by Alvin Jones, and with only Lowe to beat, he calmly slotted the ball past him for a 3-0 advantage.
What had promised to be a close encounter was shaping up to be a demolition with three goals in 34 minutes of play. But Bahamas, who held T&T to a goalless tie that booted them out of the World Cup qualifiers at the same surface in 2021, would not surrender.
And William Bayles, given room on top of the T&T area in the 40th minute, tried to pull one back, but his shot failed to trouble Frenderup.
After the interval, T&T thought they were deserving of a penalty as Auvray went down from a challenge from Reon Davis in the 51st minute, but the referee waved play on.
The Warriors then continued their dominance on the home team and really should have been rewarded when Auvray’s curling effort came off the crossbar for Moses to head home in the 70th minute but the goal was ruled offside.
Captain Joevin Jones later squandered two clear-cut chances in the game to push T&T further ahead, but they had to settle for a 3-0 win.
