From T&T NewsDay

Trinidad and Tobago’s Under – 19 team were no match for Mexico on Thursday, losing heavily 17-3 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, in their NACRA Under-19 match-up.

Needing to win by 12 points to have a chance of advancing, TT had the worst possible start as Mexico drew first blood in the 11th minute, scoring a try and later converting to take the lead 7-0. Just seven minutes later, Mexico again found the try zone to extend their lead 12-0. At the end of the first half Mexico were leading 12-0.

But 53 minutes into the second half Mexico added another five points on the scoreboard to effectively seal the result.

With five minutes left on the clock, TT managed to post three points on the board after a penalty kick. But it was little consolation as they made no further inroads before the final whistle.

Mexico finished on top of their pool with two wins and are expected to play Barbados for first place honours.

TT will play the Cayman Islands for the 5th and 6th position today in Pool B at the Hasley Crawford Stadium.

Earlier that day, Jamaica faced the Cayman Islands and dominated proceedings. It took only 15 minutes for Jamaica to find their rhythm being the first to put up numbers on the scoreboard, taking the lead 7-0 over the Cayman Islands.

In the 23rd minute, Cayman Islands answered with a penalty kick – putting three points up.

Less than ten minutes later, Jamaica found the try zone again scoring another five points which extending their lead 12-3.

But the Cayman Islands scored another penalty to make it 12-6 to Jamaica at halftime.In the second half, Jamaica again scored another try while Cayman Islands finally found the try zone to make it 17-11 in the 62nd minute to make it a bit exciting.

Five minutes later though, Jamaica again entered the try zone to take the scored to 24-11 after the covnersion.

The Cayman Islands player were not going down without a fight, however, responding with a try as the game finished 24-18. Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago Club Select team was off to a quick start yesterday afternoon crushing the British Virgin Islands 35-6 at Fatima Grounds.Even though the game was delayed by ten minutes and the field was drenched due to the inclement weather, the Club Select team showed dominance by scoring two tries in the first ten minutes with both successfully converted to take the lead 14-0 over BVI. By half time TT Club Select extended their advantage, while BVI managed to gain three points due to a penalty kick which made the score 29-3.There was no stopping the local players as they extended their lead further while BVI scored a second penalty kick giving them a total of six points.

The game soon ended with TT Club Select victorious over BVI to finish 3rd in Pool A.

IMAGE: Mexico’s Sebastian Diaz, centre, powers through the challenges of Trinidad and Tobago’s Shakeel Dyte, second from left, and Themba Jack. Author: ROGER JACOB

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