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Week 9 - Team Guyana Flip Team Panama, Team Trinidad and Tobago Disappoints

Team Guyana threw a knockout punch at Team Panama in their crucial New York Caribbean Cup game this afternoon to vault into the playoffs, while Team Trinidad & Tobago had to forfeit their game to Team St. Vincent and the Grenadines when several of their key players failed to show.

Team Guyana 4  Team Panama 1
This afternoon’s New York Caribbean Cup curtain raiser between Team Guyana and Team Panama had playoff implications written all over it. While a draw would leave Team Panama  to sweat out the outcome of Team Guyana’s final game against Team St. Lucia, a win and Los Canaleros would zoom into the playoffs.

The teams played evenly for much of the first half but the Golden Jaguars got several clear chances to go ahead but failed partly because of an apparent hesitancy to shoot and partly because of players making the extra pass instead of shooting at goal. One player in particular guilty of this was Devon Millington, had he taken his shots Team Guyana may have been 2 or 3 goals up by half time.

With the referee looking at his watch constantly as half time approached, Team Guyana was awarded a free kick at the top of the eighteen. In his anxiety to block the shot Team Panama’s central defender Agustin Arthur handled the ball and the Golden Jaguars were awarded a penalty. Up stepped 2014 marksman Anthony Abrams who dispatched the ball to the left of the goal keeper to put Team Guyana in front.

For the first ten minutes or so of the second half Team Guyana seemed disinterested as Team Panama pressed for the equalizer. However, in the sixty-third minute, Devon Millington picked up a ball raced down the right side and beat the advancing goalkeeper who left his line to cut the angles.

The dust had hardly settled when a defensive error allowed Eduardo McCalla to pull one back for Los Canaleros from a goal mouth tap in.

While that goal seemed to have inspired Team Panama the Golden Jaguars were beginning to assert themselves and ten minutes later, in the 73rd minute Jahall Greaves laid off a beautiful pass to Anthony Abrams who restored the Golden Jaguars’ two goal cushion. Five minutes later Devon Millington whose shooting boots were shined up now made it 4-1 from close in.

The Golden Jaguars have played better with each successive game and while the win vaulted them into the 2015 playoffs, it was also good to see them scoring goals.

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Team Trinidad and Tobago Forfeits
Not sure what impact the Soca Warriors’ Gold Cup game in New Jersey had on the Soca Ballers’ New York Caribbean Cup game at Jefferson High School, but it was, to say the least disappointing that key players didn’t show up for their assignment. Disappointing for fans who showed up to see them play, and disappointing to coach Henry who has bent over backwards in an attempt to put back pride in the Team Trinidad and Tobago unit.

Because they were short-handed, the Soca Ballers had to forfeit the game to Vincy Heat. So it goes as a Team St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2-0 win.

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Week 10, Sunday, July 26, 2015

3:30pm – Team St. Lucia vs Team Dominica
(A St. Lucia win and they are the Western Zone Champs)

5:30pm – Team Jamaica vs Team Haiti
(the winner of this game wins the Eastern Zone)