Adrian Frater,News Editor

Western Bureau:

Jamaica sealed their place in the semi-finals of the 2008 Digicel Caribbean Cup and by extension secured a place in next year's CONACAF Gold Cup, when they held on for a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Trinidad & Tobago, in the feature game of yesterday's Group One double-header at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

By virtue of the point they secured from the game, Jamaica finished atop the four-team group with seven points, while Trinidad and Tobago, which won once and lost twice in their three games, were eliminated.

Grenada, which handed Barbados a 4-2 defeat in the first game to end with six points, took second place in the group and also earned a Gold Cup place.

The Jamaica team, which took the lead in the 47th minute when an Eric Vernan shot cannoned off both a defender and the right upright before lodging in the goal, saw T&T bouncing back to draw level in the 81st minute through Errol McFarlane.

"I am not happy with the performance but I am happy we are in the semi-final," said Jamaica's head coach, John Barnes. "This is the worst we have played as we did not pass the ball well and we did not play with the intensity we showed against Barbados and we did not play with any tactical discipline."

Final slot

With Jamaica, Grenada and Cuba already assured of their semi-final places, the final slot will be decided this afternoon with the playing of the final round of Group Two games at Jarrett Park.

Guadeloupe will play Antigua and Barbuda in the feature game at 7 p.m., while Haiti will tackle Cuba in the opening game at 5 p.m.

A win for second place Guadeloupe (three points) will see them advancing. However, a draw would open the door for champions Haiti (one). Cuba have six points and Antigua and Barbuda are pointless.

While the Jamaicans were generally lacking in intensity, they were far more composed than T&T for most of the game and with a little better finishing from Dane Richards and Vernan, who missed a couple of good chances between them, Jamaica could well have ended this phase of the campaign with maximum nine points.

Jamaica got their lone goal when they caught T&T cold at the start on the second half, when a right side play saw the ball ending up at the feet of Vernan. Spotting an opening to the right of goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams, Vernan cracked a neat shot, which ended up in the goal behind the bewildered goalkeeper, making the score 1-0.

Campaign halt

With their campaign grinding to a halt, T&T staged a brilliant late rally, which saw several attacks being launched on the Jamaican goal. It was from one of those attacks that McFarlane pounced on a ball, which rebounded from goalkeeper Donovan Rickettes and fired into the goal, making the final score 1-1.

In their historic climb into both the competition's semi-final and the Gold Cup, Grenada found a hero in burly striker Kithson Bain, who notched a superb hat-trick. Grenada got the fourth goal from Marcus Julien.

Goals

Bain's goals came in the 12th, 25th and 66th minutes, while Julien's lone strike came in the 19th minute.

"This is a very happy moment for Grenada's football because this is the first time we have done this at this level," said Grenada's player/coach and captain, Anthony Modeste. "This one is for the Grenadian people because they have supported us 100 per cent in this tournament."

Despite no chance of advancing, Barbados gave a pleasing second half performance as coming back from 4-0 down, they struck in the 72nd and 80th minutes through Riviere Williams.

photo by Adrian Frater

Jamaica's Eric Vernan (partially hidden) watches his shot heading towards the right upright, from where it bounced into the goal to give Jamaica a 1-0 lead against Trinidad & Tobago, at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium yesterday. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.