NLCL U-19: Collier, Trestrail deliver City FC’s first title, after 3-0 win over AIA

Second half goals by Kade Collier, Caden Trestrail and Darius Jordan determined the destination of the 2023-24 NLCL U-19 Community Cup trophy as City FC stormed to a 3-0 win over fellow first-time participants ZA Limity AIA on Sunday at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar.

AIA played out the final moments of the match without their head coach, Adrian Roman, who saw red as the appropriately named referee David Scarlett sent him to the stands.

Romain later congratulated City FC on their victory, although he made it very clear he was not impressed with the officiating in the game.

“Honestly, the referee did not put his hands on the game at all and it became out of hand in the second half, especially with certain decisions,” Romain told Wired868. “It was well and truly schoolboys refereeing today. When he gave them the penalty, I actually told him, ‘well done’.

“I got sent off for that. I don’t know where is that in the rule book in Fifa. But nevertheless, it’s all about the kids. It’s all about Athletic International Academy and the fans that came out to support us.”

Romain’s opposite number, City FC head coach Colm De Freitas, was the model of composure during and after the match.

“I am just glad for the boys—we put a lot of hard work in since December so am really glad for them,” said De Freitas. “It’s always nice to win something.”

AIA qualified for the final after beating Ball Blasters Youth Academy 2-0 in the semifinal round, while City got a stoppage-time goal from Kade Collier to eliminate defending champions Soccer Made Simple 1-0.

Coming into the game, De Freitas felt his players were mentally ready to deal with the potent threats within the AIA ranks.

“I think they (AIA) have direct threats and the boys are aware of that,” he said. “I think these guys are professional enough in how they approach things so I don’t think complacency was much of an issue.

“[AIA] have been pretty consistent in how they have played since December, so nothing new. We’ve beaten them twice, so no surprises either. We just tried to execute what we normally do with quality.”

Romain shared his own plans to nullify City’s potent attack.

“Our plan was to get their midfield away from our goal,” he said. “They like to play with the ball and move the ball around a lot.”

The opening phase of the game saw AIA take control early with Theo Crovador shooting wide before setting up a chance for Jahdel Chase-Charles to fire straight at City custodian Tyrece Romain.

City eventually cranked up their offense and began pushing AIA back into their defensive third. They produced five unanswered shots in the next 25 minutes with attackers Collier and Trestrail taking a firm grip on the match.

Trestrail, in particular, was impressive from the first pass he played: a perfectly-weighted, curving ball hit with the outside of the right boot to Collier, which put him in behind the defence.

Despite their dominance and despite AIA breaking the shackles at the end of the first half to get off a couple of shots, neither citadel would be breached in the opening 45 minutes.

City were, however, the happier of the two teams by the interval.

“I think it was a bit of nerves—these guys remember are still 17 so they were affected by it,” said De Freitas. “I just reminded them what they are capable of. It’s a players’ game, so they were the ones who had to come out and get it done in the second half.”

Romain lamented AIA’s early missed scoring opportunities.

“I think we didn’t take our chances,” he said. “I think that we have a well-oiled team, and we have the ability to strive as a team. For me, we kept them away from our goal, we were pressing hard on them. They were really uncomfortable.”

Trestrail, however, saw it differently.

“Going into the dressing room, everybody was calm,” said the 16-year-old Fatima College student. “We are a tight team. We believe in ourselves so it was just getting that first goal—that motivated us.”

City rolled the dice by replacing full-backs David Hospedales and Micaiah Leach for the more attack-minded Aadil Abdul Hakeem Jr and Darius Jordan at the halftime break.

Coach De Freitas also sent them back out with a timely reminder.

“I just reminded them what they could do and what worked for us in the many months that we have been doing this thing,” he said. “If we could return to that, I felt confident that they could score a few goals.”

AIA started brighter again, with Crovador pulling the strings and carving out several chances for his frontline.

Yet, Romain’s troops were soon trailing as Collier fired home, after midfielder Aydon Caruth executed a superb turn and pass to initiate a move that eventually found his teammate in acres of space in the inside right channel.

It was Collier’s second goal in successive matches.

Stung into action, Romain made a radical alteration as his team chased the equalizer. Defender Mattyas Charles and midfielder Khadell Campbell were withdrawn with attacking players Dalon Sankar and Tariq Abdulla brought in.

However, the goal had altered the psychological balance between the teams and Trestrail knew his team had a chance to augment their 1-0 lead.

“I think their tactics were to hold us off as long as possible,” he said. “But as we broke the line for the first goal, we knew more were coming—and they did [come].”

AIA were in the ascendancy now, but City were content to play on the break. And they found a second goal as Trestrail, who was played into space on the left side of the AIA area, ghosted past a defender and rounded opposing goalkeeper Joash Harris to slot into the far corner.

The goal scorer and his teammates celebrated by taking imaginary selfies.

“Well, we went for it and we were basically left with less guys defending,” said Romain, ruefully.

“After that it was just bout game management, hitting them on the counter and taking our chances,” said Trestrail.

Eight minutes later, with the 90 minutes already up, Trestrail went down in the area and referee Scarlett pointed to the penalty spot.

“The penalty was very soft by the referee,” said Romain. “If you look at the replay, it was really and truly not a penalty.”

Jordan sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and City FC were 3-0 ahead.

Romain’s “congratulatory” message reached Scarlett’s ears and the AIA coach saw a second yellow and then red. Within seconds, his team’s first trip to the NLCL U19 Community Cup finals ended in a 3-0 defeat, only 13 months after the academy was formed.

“It was a tough game,” he said. “I think that we didn’t take our chances in the early part of the game. But am really proud of the boys, playing for the first time in this tournament.”

Trestrail dominated the prizegiving function, winning the Best Striker and Most Goals awards. He was also named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“I think if you do not know too much about him, you haven’t been watching football in Trinidad recently,” De Freitas said. “He is a good kid, a hard worker, and he offers something different that not a lot of other kids offer. He has a real knack for scoring and I was glad that he was able to score as many as he did.”

The newly-minted NLCL U19 Cup MVP revealed his admiration for fellow Fatima College player Michael Chaves, who starred for the National Under-20 team last month and, at 17, already has a National Senior Team cap.

“Mikey, we are very proud of him,” said Trestrail. “We all aspire to be like him. He is a great role model.”

Trestrail’s club and school teammate Yohance Atherton was named Best Defender, while the AIA pair of Harris and Crovador were named Best Goalkeeper and Best Midfielder respectively.

Only Gasparillo’s Malerky Fraser (Best Upcoming Player) broke the AIA/City sweep of the top awards.

City FC coach De Freitas picked up the trophy for Best Coach.

He promised his team will be back to defend the title they wrested away from Soccer Made Simple (SMS) in the next tournament.

(Teams)

ZA Limity AIA (4-3-3): 1.Joash Harris (GK); 19.Isaiah Isaac, 6.Jaheshua Ferguson, 3.Khaden Caraby (14.Seon Punette 88), 4.Mattyas Charles (10.Dalon Sankar 61); 18.Kadeon Marcelle, 17.Angel Aragones, 15.Khadell Campbell (12.Tariq Abdulla 60); 7.Theo Crovador (captain), 9.Jean-Marc Thomas, 8.Jahdel Chase-Charles (16.Christiano Johnson 88).

Unused substitutes: 2.Kevin Ramdass, 4.Matthias Motilal, 23.Donte Gordon, 20.Nikolas Beckles.

Coach: Adrian Romain

City FC (4-2-3-1): 99.Tyrece Romain (GK); 3.Micaiah Leach (5.Darius Jordan 46), 4.Yohance Atherton, 2.Matthew Barrington (captain), 16.David Hospedales (24.Aadil Abdul Hakeem Jr 46); 8.Logan Maingot, 12.Aydon Caruth; 7.Jadiel Joseph, 23.Caden Trestrail, 17.Kade Collier (15.Steven Griffith 87); 9.Luke Correia (22.Seth Hadeed 81).

Unused substitutes: 13.Joziah Shing Hon, 20.Addley Malik, 29.Aidan Nunez, Jaheim Affan.

Coach: Colm De Freitas

Referee: David Scarlett

NLCL U19 Community Cup final

(Sunday 17 March)

ZA Limity AIA 0, City FC 3 (Kade Collier 55, Caden Trestrail 82, Darius Jordan 90+1) at Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar;

Honor Roll

Best Goalkeeper: Joash Harris (AIA)

Best Defender: Yohance Atherton (City FC)

Most Goals: Caden Trestrail (City FC)

Best Striker: Caden Trestrail (City FC)

Best Midfielder: Theo Crovador (AIA)

Best Upcoming Player: Malerky Fraser (Gasparillo)

Best Coach: Colm De Freitas

MVP: Caden Trestrail (City FC)