The Cayman Islands fell short of more regional kudos on the pitch.
Cayman’s national Under-17 team failed to advance out of its group at the Caribbean Football Union Group One qualifiers in Jamaica last week.
Cayman lost its opener to Guadeloupe, 3-0, before falling to the Jamaicans, 5-3. The local boys wrapped up its tournament with a 2-0 victory over the 0-3 U.S. Virgin Islands at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in Kingston. As a result, Cayman placed third in the group at 1-2 while Jamaica advanced with a 3-0 mark.
The Reggae Boyz now travel to Haiti this month for the final round of qualifiers ahead of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football U-17 Boys Championship.
It was an interesting set of results for Cayman. Against Guadeloupe, the defense conceded three second half goals: Heindrix Julius in the 54th minute, Sylguy Theo Fumont in the 79th minute from a penalty kick and Dylanne Julien Bordin in the 80th minute.
Against Jamaica, Cayman scored three first half goals – from Leo Ebanks (5th), Elijah Seymour (7th) and captain Zachary Scott (25th) – before the Reggae Boyz rallied to victory with strikes from Alex Marshall (15th, 62nd, 92nd) and Ajeanie Talbot (75th).
Ryan Jackson (45) and Leighton Thomas Jr. (55) had the decisive goals against the Virgin Islanders.
The compete Cayman roster featured: midfield – Ashante Jackson, Jordan McLean, Seymour, Ramon Sebastian Martinez, Ricardo Damaso, Ryan Jackson, Thomas Jr., Kaled Giron, Jordon Myles; defense – Kirby Tibbetts, Dante Ramoon, Kameron D’Hue, Livingston Bailey; forward – Maikel Ebanks-Pol, Stephen Rivers, Scott, Joshua McKenzie, Kieran Hindness; goalkeeper – Ebanks, Roger Jackson. The technical staff was: head coach, Dion Brandon; assistant coach, Michael Johnson; manager, Owen Dinnall; physiotherapist, Guy Waller; equipment manager, Floyd McKenzie; director of national teams, Renard Moxam.
Most of the squad – 18 of 20 players – competed in the inaugural CONCACAF Boys Under-15 Championship last year. Thomas Jr. was the star of the team as he scored 12 goals in five matches to claim the Golden Boot. Among those who did not play in that tournament was U.K.-based midfielder Sebastian Martinez of Swindon Town.
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