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Soca Warriors win Caribbean Cup opener

Published:Tuesday | November 11, 2014 | 8:53 PMPaul Clarke
Paul Clarke
Paul Clarke photo Trinidad and Tobago captain, Kenwyne Jones (second right), takes the penalty kick to score his team's first goal against Curacao, in the opening match of the 2014 CFU Men's Caribbean Cup at Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay yesterday. Trinidad and Tobago won 3-2.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Trinidad and Tobago striker Kenwyne Jones scored a brace to lead the Soca Warriors to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over plucky CuraÁao in the opening match in Group A of 2014 CFU Men's Caribbean Cup football championship at the Montego Bay Sports Complex last night.

Jones, who plies his trade at Cardiff City FC in the English Premiership, scored Trinidad and Tobago's equaliser in the 26th minute, after CuraÁao took the lead in the 18th minute through midfielder Rihairo Meulens.

The equaliser came as Jones was adjudged to have been pulled down inside the area by Shelton Martis and Barbadian referee Trevor Taylor pointed to the spot, from which Jones confidently stroked the ball past the diving Rowendy Sumter in goal for CuraÁao.

The big striker made it look easy for his second, after capitalising on a goalkeeping error to give his team a 2-1 lead, which they took into the half-time break.

Much like the first half, it was CuraÁao which struck early, levelling the scores at 2-2, when Gianluca Maria found the net in the 47th minute.

Trinidad and Tobago responded well to the setback and struck one last time in the 52nd minute through a wonderful strike from Man of the Match, Kevin Molino, from about 22 yards out.

lucky stars

Trinidad spent the last 20 minutes mainly in defence and had their lucky stars to thank, as on three occasions the CuraÁao team came close to netting the equaliser. Trinidad held their nerves to collect the three points.

"We did well in the first half; we created several chances and we passed the ball well, so I think it was good win for us," said T&T's coach, Stephen Hart.

"The goals we allowed were defensive lapses, but apart from that, I am happy that we did in the end hold on to that last goal to get the win. But if we have any plan to go deeper in this tournament, we will have to do much better," he warned.

Etienne Sillie, the CuraÁao head coach, said: "It was a good game. We took our chances well to score, but now we will have to assess how we approach our next game, which is vital."