Under-20 footballers off questing success

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ male Under-20 footballers are off to Cuba, seeking to get past the next phase of the Caribbean Football Union’s qualifiers.{{more}}

To do so, they first have to pit their skills against Barbados, Martinique and the host nation.

St Vincent and the Grenadines face Cuba in their opening fixture tomorrow, Wednesday, from 5 p.m. and do battle with Martinique from 3 p.m. on Friday.

The Vincentians’ last match is set for Sunday versus Barbados from 3 p.m.

Lorson Lewis, manager of the young Vincentian hopefuls, is cautious but optimistic of his team’s chances.

“We travel to Cuba boasting a lot of attacking players and basically we are expecting great things …There are guys who would have been in the senior team set-up, while others are knocking on the door,” Lewis said.

Among the members of the team are three players who recently tasted senior team experience.

Jarrel Mc Master and Oalex Anderson played a friendly match versus Dominica here in February.

Anderson and Vasbert Ledger went on to wear the national colours in the Windward Islands tournament in Dominica in April.

According to Lewis: “This is what persons would have referred to as the next generation of senior footballers in St Vincent and the Grenadines … We have seen their talents throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines and this an opportunity for them to measure their abilities on the regional arena; a measure where St Vincent and the Grenadines’ football is against their regional counterparts.”

Lewis, describing the mood in the team as “upbeat and full of confidence,” further added: “They have been anticipating it for the past two months ….”

The hopefuls, who left last Monday morning, include Lemurs Christopher and Kevan Henry as the two goal- keepers.

Also on the trip are defender Calvin Edwards, Kendall Douglas, Morelli Solomon and Kyle Browne, with Jarrel Mc Master and Nazron Hoyte required to play in the defence, as well as the midfield.

The midfield will be manned by Tevin John, Deno John, Vasbert Ledger, Chavel Cunningham, Kyle Edwards, with Kemron Charles and Dennis Prescott positioned to play in the midfield and as strikers.

The out and out strikers selected are Malcolm Joe, Oalex Anderson, and Ojoy De Grads.

Other members of the contingent include Wayde Jackson – head coach, Alnif Williams – assistant coach, along with Keith Ollivierre – technical director and Denis Byam – physiotherapist.

St Vincent and the Grenadines’ best showing at the CFU level was in 2009, when they reached the finals, finishing as runners-up to Jamaica. That gave them a lifeline for a place in the CONCACAF final; however, St Vincent and the Grenadines lost to Honduras 3-1.

In this country’s most recent outing in 2012, St Vincent and the Grenadines as host lost to Suriname one-nil and Trinidad and Tobago 3-nil, but defeated Guyana 3-1.

This was not good enough to get them any further.(RT)