National U-20s lose 2-1 to Martinique

THE national Under 20 men’s team went down 2-1 to Martinique in their second outing in as many days at the Guadeloupe six-nation tourney on Sunday evening at Capesterre-Belle-Eau.

Following their 2-0 loss to Costa Rica the previous evening, TT, captained by Judah Garcia, went into the match hoping to come out with a favourable result. Head coach Russell Latapy made a few changes to his starting team from Saturday’s encounter in an attempt to get fresh legs on the park as well as use the opportunity to present playing time to more members of his squad.

Martinique took a 20th minute lead and would grab a second from a dubious penalty in the 50th minute for a 2-0 lead. Half-time substitute John Paul Rochford would pull a goal back for TT in the 68th minute when Kishon Hackshaw got past his man on the left before crossing into the area for Rochford to hit home first-time.

TT coach Russell Latapy said defensive breakdowns cost TT.

“It was a tough, scrappy and physical game. We gave up two goals on two defensive mistakes which is not acceptable at this level, but again, we’ve come here to get the playing time and these things are not unexpected from us at this stage, considering we haven’t had much international experience,” Latapy told TTFA Media.

“We made a some changes from the first game...and this one also was a physically demanding one on...We lacked a bit more quality in the final third and we had some decisions which went against, but again these are things that our team will accustomed to and it’s turned out to be a good learning experience for the boys.

“The young referees made some mistakes and it caused tempers to boil over which resulted in players from both teams clashing near the end. It’s the first time our boys were encountering something like this in an international match. These type of things among other aspects are what we’ll take away with us from the encounter which is learning to stay focused and sticking to the game plan instead of having our mental concentration throw off,” Latapy added.

TT faced French Guiana yesterday in the playoff for fifth place. TT are preparing for CONCACAF U-20 World Cup qualifying in November.