Barbados stun Boyce’s Warriors 1-0; T&T U17s suffers first loss to Caribbean opposition in 10 years

Randolph Boyce’s tenure as Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team head coach could only get better from here. It could not, surely, get any worse.

After his first two international outings saw the young Soca Warriors concede 12 goals while scoring once, away to Peru, Boyce’s troops started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 loss to Barbados last night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain.

It is the first time that Trinidad and Tobago have lost to a Caribbean opponent at Concacaf Under-17 level since coach Russell Latapy’s troops fell 2-0 to Haiti and then 3-2 to Jamaica in September 2016.

Since then, under coach Stern John in 2019 and Shawn Cooper in 2023 and 2025, Trinidad and Tobago went unbeaten in six games against Caribbean opposition—a spell that included a 3-2 triumph over Jamaica on 3 May 2019.

At the final whistle, Barbados coach Marlon Harte fell to his knees and looked up to the heavens while his players danced and pranced on the Hasely Crawford field.

In the stands, over 2,000 home supporters could scarcely believe their eyes.

Worse, the performance was as bad as the result.

Trinidad and Tobago completed a very respectable 407 passes—but most were in their own half of the field. In opposition territory, the young Warriors look disjointed, uncertain, static and, most of all, flat.

Barbados appeared more adventurous and, in their front three of Jamarco Johnson, Tyrico Bellamy and Jemari Henry, they had tricky, aggressive players on the ball.

Otherwise, they were often exposed in transition, naïve in defending, and like Trinidad and Tobago, never resembled a compact unit.

It was, essentially, a poor game between two poor teams. And Barbados happened to be the outfit that got the only goal.

The visitors needed some desperate defending to keep out Trinidad and Tobago forward Adasa Richardson and midfielder Donovan Drayton Jr in the eighth minute—after an unforced error at the back.

And Trinidad and Tobago should have probably had a penalty in the 36^th minute, when winger Jeremai Nanton was cut down by opposing defender Jacob Gollop in the box.

Cuban referee Eric De La Cruz was unmoved.

Barbados defender Davion Thorne hurt himself in that passage of play and was stretchered off the field. Remarkably, Harte took five minutes to replace him as Barbados played with 10 men.

Trinidad and Tobago did not even muster a shot during that period.

Boyce started Naparima right back Jeremiah Daniel in central midfield, behind Drayton and Toronto FC Academy attacking midfielder Christian Pitt. None could create anything of note while Daniel’s passing looked less than adequate in that role.

At the interval, Boyce withdrew winger Kanye Glasgow and brought on a left back, Sebastian James. Then, in the 63^rd minute, he replaced Pitt with Fatima College defensive midfielder Antuan Louison.

It is worth repeating.

At the hour mark, without a goal at home against Barbados, Boyce introduced a left back and maybe the only Fatima outfield player that failed to score in the 2025 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Premier Division season—Fatima led the league in goals with 49 items, but none came from Louison’s boot.

In the 75^th minute, Barbados made Trinidad and Tobago pay for their lack of ambition as defender Adam King headed in from a poorly defended corner kick.

Five of the 12 goals that Boyce’s boys conceded in Peru came while defending set pieces. They have not improved sufficiently in that aspect of their game.

In the 77^th minute, Boyce made his first obvious offensive changes as wingers J’meke Watkins and Jasai Theophilus replaced Nanton and Drayton, with Akel Vesprey moved to his third position of the night—from left back to left wing to attacking midfield.

Three minutes later, St Mary’s College playmaker Finn De Freitas was introduced for Daniel.

De Freitas’ first touch was a sizzling left footed effort, off a feed from Richardson, which just missed the far corner. In the 84^th minute, De Freitas turned provider as he released Watkins with a clever pass, only for Barbados goalkeeper Kaliq Lashley to sprint off his line to make a crucial block.

Watkins and Richardson both had decent looks at goal in the closing minutes. But it was not enough. Trinidad and Tobago had left it too late.

On Monday afternoon, when asked about his team’s heavy defeats in Peru, Boyce countered by pointing out that Peru had 35 million citizens to Trinidad and Tobago’s 1.5 million—as though his troops were outnumbered on the field.

Barbados’s population, incidentally, is 282,000. Their players did not seem to mind last night.

On Thursday, Trinidad and Tobago play their second game of the series against Saint Martin from 7pm at the same venue.

According to Concacaf rankings, the Soca Warriors are the 15^th best Men’s U-17 team from 41 nations in the confederation. Barbados are ranked 20^th—sandwiched between Aruba and Guadeloupe.

Saint Martin are 29^th, trailing the likes of Antigua and Barbuda, the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas.

Surely, it cannot get worse.

(Teams)

Trinidad and Tobago U-17 (4-1-2-3): 1.Mikhail Clement (GK); 2.Reagan Rowe, 13.Adriel Faure, 5.Jaylon Roberts, 20.Akel Vesprey; 6.Jeremiah Daniel (captain) (10.Finn De Freitas 80); 8.Donovan Drayton Jr (9.J’meke Watkins 77), 15.Christian Pitt (19.Antuan Louison 63); 14.Kanye Glasgow (3.Sebastian James 46), 11.Adasa Richardson, 17.Jeremai Nanton (7.Jasai Theophilus 77).

Unused substitutes: 18.Necose Moore (GK), 21.Levi Williams (GK), 4.Antonio Hills, 16.Kenai Richardson.

Coach: Randolph Boyce.

Barbados U-17 (4-5-1): 1.Kaliq Lashley (GK); 4.Raezario Roach, 5.Jacob Gollop, 3.Adam King, 17.Tye Waterman (13.Ashaun Grecia 61); 16.Davion Thorne (6.Tiago Barrow 41), 9.Reuben Games-Alleyne (12.Nicholai Banton 87), 8.Tariq Barker (captain), 7.Jemari Henry (20.Maleek Peters 61), 11.Tyrico Bellamy; 10.Jamarco Johnson (19.Tarrell Nightengale 87).

Unused substitutes: 18.Shaquan King (GK), 21.Kai Roach (GK), 2.Shakori Scott, 14.Amari Small, 15.Keandre Gibson.

Coach: Marlon Harte.

Referee: Eric De La Cruz (Cuba).

Concacaf U-17 Qualifiers

(3 February 2026)

Saint Martin 3 (Souleymane Aubriet 61, 68, Raphael Gavarin 86), Sint Maarten 0 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium;

Trinidad and Tobago 0, Barbados 1 (Adam King 75) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.

More from Wired868

‘The method they’re using is flawed!’ Coaches slam SSFL All Star methodology, point out overlooked players

“I think a better method [to select the Secondary Schools Football League standout players] has to be used,” said Arima Read more

Clement and Gosine are SSFL 2025 MVPs; but Riquelme leads head-scratching All Star omissions

Naparima College goalkeeper Mikhail Clement and Pleasantville Secondary attacker Nikita Gosine were crowned the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Boys Read more

King includes 15-year-old ‘Naps’ student, Adasa, in first T&T training squad

The Jones brothers—Alvin and Joevin—and Naparima College schoolboys Adasa Richardson and Jaydon Caprietta were among 24 players involved in coach Read more

Garcia, Joseph (D) shine as T&T U20s bounce back to blitz Barbados 5-1

Trinidad and Tobago registered the first win of their 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers series today, as they rebounded from Tuesday’s Read more

Mexico edge T&T to final U-17 W/Cup spot; hosts finish below Barbados

Trinidad and Tobago’s dreams of qualifying for the Qatar 2026 Fifa Under-17 World Cup ended, predictably, against Mexico tonight, as Read more

Boyce laments missed ‘KPIs’, as T&T U17 brace for Mexico showdown

Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-17 Team head coach Randolph Boyce lamented that his players missed their “KPIs” (key performance Read more

Lasana Liburd

Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.