Cayman fell just short of football props in Curacao.
The Cayman Islands Under-20 boys national team barely missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages of the Caribbean Football Union Under-20 qualifiers in Willemstad, Curacao. Cayman ended the group phase tied with the home nation and St. Kitts and Nevis on six points, will three teams sporting 2-1 records. Curacao would advance to the final round of qualifying in Trinidad and Tobago in September. The Dutch nation will face fellow group winners Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Aruba.
Cayman ended their sojourn in the Dutch Antilles on a positive, beating Anguilla, 5-0, last week. The goals came from David Connolly (15th minute), captain Matthew Suberan (43rd minute), Jermaine Wilson (65th minute), Martin Webb (70th minute) and Anthony Nelson (83rd minute).
The local boys had a positive start to the trip, beating Curacao, 1-0, at the Ergilio Hato Stadium on a goal in the 45th minute by Webb. From there, Cayman would lose to St. Kitts, 5-1, as their opponents scored first courtesy of Evansroy Barnes (15th minute). Zajah Isaac (28th minute), Vinceroy Nelson (60th minute), Raheem Francis (83rd minute) and Tijuan Isaac (84th minute) rounded out the scoring. Cayman’s lone goal came from Suberan in the 70th minute.
Director of National Teams Renard Moxam said following the Curacao result that Webb was a standout player.
“The boys worked tremendously hard and got the win they deserved,” Moxam said. “Martin scored a great individual goal. He has always been able to do that and now his maturity is showing.”
Aside from Webb and the aforementioned players, the team roster featured: Jonah Ebanks, Jahmelie Durant, Shakur Welcome, Brandon Ebanks, Stephen Rivers, David Ramsaran, Rohann Williams, Oliver Smith, Andrew Browning, Julian Moxam, Kevin Foster, Joshewa Frederick, Justin Rankine, Jamaal Seymour, and Ernie Jacques.
Prior to the Curacao trip, Cayman Islands Football Association Vice-President Bruce Blake said the team would the form the nucleus for a men’s national team.
“I would like to congratulate the coaching coach, they have done a good job with the team’s preparation,” Blake said. “This team is one of the best U-20 teams in a while. This team will form the nucleus of our senior national team going forward. With Olympic and World Cup qualifying next year, this is the team that will take us to those tournaments.”
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