Host Trinidad and Tobago seems set to advance to the next round of the CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualification football tournament even as they set up a final Group showdown with Guyana’s Junior Jaguars later today at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain.
The Junior Jaguars recorded their first win in the tournament with a commanding 13-0 win over the hapless British Virgin Islands (BVI) line-up who were mauled 23-0 by the Trinidadians in their opening match.
The host team has secured two wins from as many matches with victory over BVI and Suriname and will be looking to complete the Group playoff with an unbeaten record.
Guyana’s diminutive forward Franklyn Parks netted five goals and Captain Jermaine Fletcher four as the Junior Jaguars went in search of early goals against the BVI side.
Parks netted in the 34th, 49th, 68th, 87th and 89th minutes of play following up on his lone strike against Suriname in the opening match in which Guyana lost 3-1 to take his tally of goals to six in the tournament.
The goal-hungry Fletcher was also bang on target with goals in the 23rd, 26th, 28th and 59th minute.
Kareem Knights opened the scoring for Guyana in the seventh minute and he returned to complete his double with a second strike in the 76th minute. Steffon Enoe and Mark Wronge also scored a goal each for the Guyanese.
Trinidad and Tobago defeated Suriname 3-1 in their encounter Thursday evening in another show of force at this level of competition. The final round of CFU qualifiers will include the five qualifying group winners, as well as the top second-place team.
The top three teams from the qualifiers will advance to the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, which will be held in Panama early next year. Meantime, the top three teams from the Panama play-off will qualify for the Under-17 World Cup Finals, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in summer next year.
