Jahmiah Gibbes scores double, TT whip St Kitts 5-0 in CFU U-14 tourney

TRINIDAD and Tobago's Under-14 boys football team got their second straight win of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys Challenge Series when they hammered St Kitts and Nevis (SKN) by a 5-0 margin on August 18 at the Dwight Yorke Stadium, Bacolet, Tobago in their tier one, Group A match.

Again, coach Densill Theobald's team played an attractive brand of football, and they treated the home supporters to a show with their dominant effort – joining Caribbean rivals Jamaica on six points in the group.

TT treated the visiting SKN team to a rough outing, with standout performances from the attacking pair of Jahmiah Gibbes and Jaeden Anthony, both of whom are attached to Tobago's Ball Blasters Academy. Anthony replaced team captain Adasa Richardson midway through the first half.

Gibbes scored a first-half double, with the tricky Anthony terrorising the SKN defence all night as he won a first-half penalty before rounding off his team's scoring with a lovely solo goal in the second half.

TT opened the scoring in the 19th minute, as Gibbes received a pass just inside the box before unleashing a low left-footed shot past goalkeeper Brian Collins. In the 26th minute, Gibbes got on the scoresheet again when he converted a right-footed penalty after Anthony was fouled in the area after a tantalising run down the right side.

The young TT team were in full control of the game, but there would have been some nerves in the camp when central defender Essien Thomas needlessly committed a foul in the penalty area. TT were given a reprieve, though, as Lajewan Jeffers blazed his right-footed penalty well over the bar.

Regular proceedings resumed for TT in the second half of the 70-minute affair when substitute Reagan Rowe blasted past the goalkeeper from a tight angle in the 49th minute to give his team a 3-0 lead. Seconds before, Rowe was struck off the ball by a SKN defender as he tried to get on the end of a left-side cross. It's fair to say the City FC forward had the final say, though.

On the hour mark, the hosts got their fourth goal when Aaden Jones rifled in a crisp shot on the swivel after the SKN custodian was beaten by a right-side cross which crashed off his bar.

In the third minute of second-half stoppage-time, the lively Anthony got a deserved goal when he tricked his way past two defenders before squeezing in a right-footed shot at the near post to cap TT's five-star performance.

In their third group match from 6.30 pm on August 19, TT will try to continue their winning streak against a Jamaican team which got their second win in Group A when they hammered Aruba by a 6-0 margin in the first game of a Bacolet double-header on August 18. Both teams are on six points, with Jamaica leading the group on goal difference.