Stewart does it for SVG Under 20

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Under-20 footballers got over their unknown opponents Guyana, on Wednesday, to set up Sunday’s showdown with the host, Grenada, for first place in Group D of the Caribbean zone of the 2009 CONCACAF Championships.{{more}}

Two second half goals by senior team and Under-23 player, Cornelius Stewart, gave the Vincentians the victory over the Guyanese.

Reports are that Stewart used his deft touches in the penalty area, which accounted for his eluding his markers and eventually, the Guyanese custodian.

Earl Samuel, one of the coaches with the team, told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday evening that St. Vincent and the Grenadines had the better of the exchanges in the first period of the first half.

“We had full control of the match in the first twenty minutes of the first half, but we let them in the next fifteen minutes, but came back strong in the second half”, Samuel said.

“They gave our wing backs a lot of trouble, because they were attacking us on the flanks”, Samuel said of the Guyanese approach play.

The other coach who travelled with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ team, Earl Paynter, told SEARCHLIGHT last Monday, prior to the team’s departure, that the Guyanese may have posed the biggest threat, since they were the unknown lot.

Paynter believed that his charges could get past Grenada, despite having home court advantage.

Paynter pointed to the experience in the defence as the team’s strength, as several of the players have senior team experience, and six players have returned from the last Under-20 outfit.

Apart from Stewart, goal keeper Dwayne Sandy, and defenders Jolanshoy Mc Dowald and Darren Hamlett, have stepped on to the senior stage.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines meets the British Virgin Islands, today, Friday, in what should not present any complications for the Vincentians. The BVI were swamped by Grenada on Wednesday.

But the Vincentians have to be wary of the home team. According to Samuel, “they are direct in their play and shoot on sight”.

The match up between the two titans of Windward Islands football, takes place from 4, at the Tanteen Recreation Ground.

The other members who completed the hopefuls are Reginald Richards, Shemol Trimmingham, Ronsil Badnock, Chad Balcombe, Kurtlan Williams, Wendell Cuffy, Jelani Hinds, Chesbert Hamilton, Renaldo Roberts, Zamaro Pompey, Marc Williams, Antonio Douglas, Devon Holder, Devon Browne and Myron Samuel. Raymond Trimmingham is the team’s manager, with Samuel and Paynter as coaches. Stewart John Hall has also accompanied the team in his capacity as Technical Director. (RT)