Last-Gasp Own Goal Denies Dwight Yorke Victory
Ex-Premier League striker was seconds away from masterminding a Soca Warriors success in Jamaica
Dwight Yorke came perilously close to registering his first win as Trinidad & Tobago head coach, only to be denied by a stoppage-time own goal.
Josiah Trimmingham, the 28-year-old Montego Bay United defender, went from hero to zero for the Soca Warriors inside the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in Kingston on Sunday evening.
Trimmingham broke the deadlock on 29 minutes, but four minutes into added time sent the ball past his own ‘keeper Marvin Phillip to gift Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz a share of the spoils.
Yorke was only appointed head coach in November, after being ruled out of the Jamaica manager’s role. He got a rude awakening in his opening game, when hosts Saudi Arabia brushed aside his new team with a comfortable 3-1 triumph in December.
February’s two-match friendly series in Jamaica was swiftly arranged, but was played outside the FIFA international window. This resulted in primarily locally-based players being available to Yorke and Jamaica manager Steve McClaren.
A rare goal from veteran defender Sue-Lae McCalla earned the Boyz a slender success in their first encounter, finding the back of the net on 84 minutes.
The second friendly saw Yorke shake-up his starting line-up with Trimmingham one of only three players retained to tackle Jamaica from the kick-off.
McClaren made a handful of changes with his starting berth, dropping Kimoni Bailey, Warner Brown, Gadial Irving and Tyreek Magee and replacing the quartet with Christopher Ainsworth, Daniel Green, Romeo Occacha Guthrie and Shaniel Thomas.
Trimmingham was involved in relentless box-to-box action, and came close to scoring on 13 minutes from a set piece. But he headed the ball over the gaping goalmouth.
Five minutes later and Trinidad’s John Paul Rocford twice fluffed opportunities to find the net in very quick succession. His ambitious long-range effort sailed over the target, and seconds later he screwed his effort wide of the left post.
Just before the half-hour mark, livewire Trimmingham headed Nathaniel James’ corner straight through the legs of shotstopper Jahmali Waite for a deserved lead.
It surprisingly took until 38 minutes for the lacklustre hosts to muster a decent shot on target, courtesy of Jahshaun Anglin. His effort from outside the box and the ball was easily saved by Phillip.
There was almost another goal netted on the stroke of half-time, James being wasteful for the Soca Warriors and McCalla lingering at the near post but headed over a corner.
After the turnaround the goalmouth action died down, with the only drama being a 56th-minute yellow card brandished to Yorke for complaining quickly followed by a caution for Rocford.
With some life urgently needed to be installed to the lifeless match there were a staggering 10 changes made on 63 minutes. Yorke sent on half-a-dozen new faces while McClaren swapped four players.
Without any real threats on Philips, Yorke decided to give Jabari St. Hilliare a 10-minute run out between the sticks. Ultimately this proved costly.
With victory seemingly sealed, a counter-attack ended up with the ball bouncing around the Trinidad & Tobago penalty area. Trimmingham’s attempted clearance was miscued and bounced past St. Hilliare and into the back of the net to deny what would have been a terrific win for Yorke.
The 1-1 result extended Jamaica’s unbeaten run against the Soca Warriors to six matches, with McClaren gathering information from these friendlies about which players to select for March’s CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary matches.
The Boyz will host relative minnows St. Vincent & the Grenadines at home before visiting the Eastern Caribbean for the second leg next month, which with overseas players available should dramatically notch up the general standard of play and creativity associated with Jamaica’s national football sides.
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