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Trinidad and Tobago suffered their first loss of the 2026 CFU U-14 Boys Challenge Series today, as they were brushed aside 4-1 by Haiti in Group B action in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic.
Jiair Nanton got the lone item for Trinidad and Tobago, with a 38th minute penalty kick that he won himself. But the young Soca Warriors were already trailing by three goals at that stage.
Photo: CFU.
And even with a numerical advantage, as Haiti went down to 10 players after defender Marvens Fenelon was ejected in the 62nd minute, coach Randolph Boyce’s men could not claw their way back—with the French-speaking islanders extending their lead instead.
The emphatic result exposed the shortcomings of the young Warriors, who started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Puerto Rico yesterday.
Puerto Rico, incidentally, fell 1-0 today to a French Guiana team that were spanked 5-2 by Haiti on Monday.
Trinidad and Tobago face French Guiana tomorrow in their final group stage encounter, and coach Randolph Boyce’s troops need a win to advance into the knockout phase.
They will not start as favourites.
It is a far cry from the 2024 CFU Boys’ Challenge Series, when Trinidad and Tobago, under coach Densill Theobald, made it to the semifinal stage before losing 4-3 to, ironically, French Guiana.
Earlier this year, Trinidad and Tobago finished third—below Barbados—at Concacaf U-17 level, under Boyce. The U14s could do even worse, although the circumstances are dissimilar, due to the short preparation time of the current squad.
Haiti, today, were athletic, enthusiastic and inventive. Yet, they were not quite a compact or fluent unit—whether in possession or without it—and, arguably, closer resembled a collection of good players than a good team in the classic sense.
Still, those strengths were more than enough for Haiti to be streets ahead of the Trinidad and Tobago outfit.
Coach Randolph Boyce made just one change to his team to face Haiti, with Liam Alleyne replacing goalkeeper Jean-Paul Barrimond.
(via TTFA Media.)
The game was effectively decided in the first five minutes. Haiti midfielder Jodeley Sheeck Delmas opened the scoring in the fourth minute with an angled free kick high into the far corner, which goalkeeper Liam Alleyne misjudged on his international debut.
(Alleyne was the only change in Boyce’s starting XI, as the St Benedict’s College student replaced Fatima College custodian Jean-Paul Barrimond.)
However, Trinidad and Tobago might have easily been three goals down, even before Delmas’ wicked free kick.
(via TTFA Media.)
Haiti’s stifling high press forced three successive turnovers from the Trinidad and Tobago defence, as the two-island republic tried to build up from the back through passing manoeuvres that lacked the speed or guile to outwit their opponents.
Boyce’s team did not appear to have a Plan B.
So, unable to play the ball safely forward, Trinidad and Tobago were forced to take a more direct approach. And they were never going to match Haiti when it came to speed and physicality.
Trinidad and Tobago lost 1-0.
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868.
What ensued was a wide-open affair with loads of one-on-one dribbling and aggressive pressing. And Haiti kept winning their individual battles, as Trinidad and Tobago wilted.
Attacker Wensley Dumorne doubled Haiti’s lead in the 25th minute, with a predatory first-time finish while the Trinidad and Tobago defence seemed distracted by winger Jean Eddyson Paul’s cry for a penalty.
And midfielder Jerry Petit-Homme got Haiti’s third goal in the dying seconds of the first half, as he dribbled past Trinidad and Tobago holding midfielder Taariq Kerr and hit a left-footed effort that squirmed under Alleyne.
Photo: CFU.
Nanton, always a bright spark, got the Warriors on the scoreboard in the 38th minute—with an emphatic penalty, after winning the kick himself with a solo drive into the opposing box.
Briefly, Haiti looked rattled. But Trinidad and Tobago offered little more than enthusiasm, and eventually the north Caribbean team regained momentum. (Neither team truly had control in this swashbuckling affair.)
In the 62nd minute, Trinidad and Tobago substitute Jake Correia got behind Fenelon and the referee followed the letter of the law by dismissing the Haitian, who was the last defender at the time of his foul.
(via TTFA Media.)
Even a player short, Haiti were still better, though. And, three minutes later, they got goal number four with a near post finish by the enigmatic Petit-Homme—in a sweeping counter-attack.
Trinidad and Tobago had no answer. But that much was evident since the opening five minutes of the contest.
(Team)
Trinidad and Tobago (4-3-3): 1.Liam Alleyne (GK); 2.Ryan Aquing, 4.Hasheem Salandy (captain), 5.Kiyan Jupiter, 3.Darion Alzola; 10.Zaire McMillan, 6.Taariq Kerr, 8.Declan De Freitas; 11.Judea Phillip, 9.Abayomi Hope, 7.Jiair Nanton.
Substitutes: 18.Jean-Paul Barrimond (GK), 12.Eli-Akim Nelson, 13.Kymani Mohan, 14.Zidan Tinto, 15.Kayden Rosalis, 16.Alex Wortman, 17.Jake Correia.
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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.
