Soca Warriors head coach Dwight Yorke can be proud of his young team. They took advantage of a short-handed Cuba team after Cuba went down a man after midfielder Romario Torres was red-carded for a dangerous two-footed tackle on Andre Rampersad in the second minute of play.

The Soca Warriors could not have asked for a better gift. It was the second leg of a home and away CONCACAF Gold Cup Preliminary match played in Trinidad on March 25th at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva after Trinidad and Tobago had won the first leg in Cuba 2-1.

Cuba had opened the scoring in the first match at home, and it is safe to say that the early red card to Cuba in the second match must have calmed the nerves of Trinidad and Tobago Coach Dwight Yorke somewhat.

Yorke made no bones at the press conference the previous day that he would have accepted any result as long as his team advanced and a draw would have secured his team’s qualification for the Gold Cup championship finals.

However, watching his team miss several easy-scoring opportunities after the red card may have been unsettling, and a scoreless draw to advance was not a good result for his tenure as a coach.

Things got worse before they got better when his team captain, Kevin Molino, missed two glorious scoring opportunities. On the positive side, Spicer’s aggressive play down the left flank kept the Cauba defence under constant pressure.

Forward Isaiah Lee finally put any notion of an upset to rest when he opened the scoring and later gave the Soca Warriors the breeding room with a brace that sent the Warriors into the halftime break leading 2-0.

It was the first time in quite some time that the anxiety level of the Trinidad and Tobago supporters seemed to be in check. It was definitely due to the two-goal and the man advantage.

The Soca Warriors supporters’ appetite for goals was satisfied when captain Kevin Molino scored just after halftime, and substitute Nathaniel James added another one for the road, giving T&T a 4-0 victory.