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March 28, 2008
Reggae Boyz humbled in 2-all draw against Soca Warriors
By: Devon Anderson and Dwight Fraser
Photography By: Milton Raynor
Jamaica on Wednesday squandered a glorious opportunity to chalk up another victory against arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago when they surrendered a two goal lead to end the game 2-2 in front of a fairly disappointed crowd at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Reggae Boyz looked vastly superior to a largely ineffective though young and inexperienced T n T aggregation. The Boyz with a couple of senior professionals from England, including Luton Shelton, Demar Phillips, Oneil 'Bigga' Thompson, Omar Daley and the recalled Deon Burton waltzed to a comfortable two goal half time advantage thanks to strikes from captain and Wigan FC player Marlon King in the 34th minute and Tyrone 'Granny' Marshall - who plays for Toronto football club in the U.S Major League Soccer - in minute 41.
In the second half Jamaica's technical director Rene Simoes introduced the local players and the Jamaicans suddenly slumped from being the superior team to a team struggling to defend their lead, in front of a Stadium of approximately 22,000 spectators.
The Soca Warriors with renewed vitality in the second half, eventually pulled one back from substitute Osei Telesford and then sealed the equalizer through captain Aurtis Whitely with only two minutes added on in extra time.
Coach Simoes took the blame for the tie saying he was giving some of the local based players a chance to get some exposure and experience.
The Reggae Boyz will look to avenge this tie when they have a date with the T n T players on Soca soil in June.
This is the second drawn match for The newly appointed Technical Director Simoes after the Boyz were held to a one all draw against Costa Rica.
These friendly internationals are in preparation for Jamaica's 2010 World Cup Qualification bid starting this summer.
