Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s under-17 football team came to the party on February 9 when they hammered group A table dwellers Sint Maarten 8-0 in their Concacaf World Cup qualifier at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo.

After a pair of uninspiring performances against Barbados and Saint Martin, which saw them record a loss and a win, TT laboured to a 2-0 lead against Sint Maarten in the Mucurapo heat before running up the scoreline in a second-half onslaught.

In a game that saw the hosts rattling off as many as 40 shots and racking up 68 per cent possession, it took roughly ten minutes for the modest crowd to see that goalkeeper Sudesh Singh would have been in for a long afternoon. After his team’s 1-0 win over Saint Martin on February 5, coach Randolph Boyce lamented his team’s finishing and said much improvement was needed in that regard.

Early on, Singh made a couple of stops, but the hosts got their first item in the 13th minute when J’meke Watkins rounded the former to slot into the net after a dreadful crossfield ball from Sint Maarten full back Christopher Freeman. Freeman didn’t have the best of outings, as he was culpable for two more goals in the second half. However, in truth, Sint Maarten were totally outplayed as they fell to a fourth straight loss.

TT’s second goal came in the 41st minute when playmaker Christian Pitt beat forward Adasa Richardson to a loose ball to pounce on a save from Singh, who kept out a long-range drive from Donovan Drayton.

The second half was a different kettle of fish for Boyce’s charges, as they slammed in six goals to help take their goal difference to +8. Flanker Kanye Glasgow came off the bench to net a brace, while fellow substitutes Finn De Freitas and Jeremai Nanton capped off cameos with powerful left-footed drives late in the second half to beat substitute goalie Solani Cornet. Also getting on the scoresheet for TT were the pair of Drayton and Richardson, who scored for the second straight match when he instinctively poked in from close range in the 80th minute to cap off a piece of trickery from Nanton.

The victory took TT to second spot as they moved to six points from three matches. On February 12, TT will play group leaders and favourites Mexico in their final group game. At the time of publication, Mexico were leading Barbados 3-0 in Mucurapo. Both Mexico and Barbados started that game with six points.

Only the group winner will qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Qatar in November. Having started the match against the Bajans with a +14 goal differential, it’s fair to say the Mexicans are on their way to booking their World Cup ticket to Qatar. For TT, their clash with the young “El Tri” team could be seen as mission impossible when they face off in a few days.