The inaugural New York Caribbean Cup President’s Trophy game ended prematurely when Team Haiti walked off the field following a penalty awarded to Team Grenada late in the game with the score tied at 1-1 on Sunday, Aug. 7.
The call was not made immediately by the referee and only after consultation with his assistant referees following a vicious tackle on Aniel Jones by Abdias Daout. Jones, who was a constant bother to the Haitian defense all afternoon was moving in to head a corner kick when he was hit by Daout.
Much against the run of play, the ‘Spice Boys’ struck first in the 14th minute when Haiti’s goalkeeper Marc Donald Mervil mishandled a cross and watched helplessly as the ball fell to the feet of Kevin Wellington who tapped the ball home.
While Les Grenadiers continued to play well and got their chances to equalize, the ‘Spice Boys’ held their goal advantage going into half-time.
Team Grenada picked up their game in the second half and shut down the attacking lanes of the Haitians. However, Haiti was gifted the equalizer by way of a penalty when Louis Robenson was brought down deep inside the ‘Spice Boys’ 18- yard box. Benchy Estama was called on to take the penalty and he made no mistake.
Only 10 minutes or so were left in the game that seemed headed for a penalty shoot-out when Daout was called for a reckless tackle on Aniel Jones. Following much discussion between the referees and the players, Team Haiti walked off the field and brought an end to what was a wonderful game up to that point.
Team Grenada was awarded the President’s Trophy.
In the preliminary games, the U-17 ladies game between Bob Cats and the Panthers ended in a 1-1 draw, so too the boys U-23 game between the Brooklyn Soca Lions and the Cambria Heights Tigers.
