New York Caribbean Soccer Cup play-offs…
BROOKLYN, New York CMC – Grenada grabbed a berth in the New York Caribbean Soccer Cup play-offs on Sunday by beating St Vincent and the Grenadines 2-0 in treacherous conditions at the Jefferson High School Stadium here.

In a do-or-die battle, the Grenadians fought gallantly to seal the victory with their second goal six minutes from the final whistle, as heavy thundershowers brought an early end to the duel.

Both teams were locked nil-all at the half-time interval, but the Grenadians, who had to win to keep their play-off prospects alive, were relieved when CONCACAF Gold Cup striker Denron Daniel found the back of the Vincentian nets in the 64th minute.

Two minutes later, Cassim Lanjaique, operating on the left flank, blasted past Vincentian goalkeeper Marcus Williams five yards outside the penalty box, to send the Spice Boyz into a frenzy.

As fans scampered for shelter with the increasingly heavy showers, the Vincentians were less than impressed when the referee called off the match 20 minutes before the scheduled close, giving the five-time Cup champions a very slim chance of making this season’s play-offs.

SVG have no one but themselves to blame for their sound defeat, as they failed to capitalise on at least four scoring opportunities.

Grenada, however, were bolstered by the inclusion of four members of the Gold Cup campaign and managed to shake off their 3-1 loss to Jamaica two weeks ago.

“I’m very satisfied with the performance today (Sunday),” head coach Brian Lewis told CMC Sports in a post-match interview. “Since we’ve made the play-offs we’ll go all the way (to the grand finale).”

Lewis’s opposite number, Stanley ‘Luxie’ Morris said he was “very disappointed” with his team’s performance, agreeing that his players did not make full use of their scoring chances.

“We had four chances and we did not make use of them. Grenada had two and they put them away,” he stated.

Jamaica are currently in second spot on nine points in the East Zone behind Barbados, who have completed their five matches with 12 points. Grenada are on seven points, St Vincent and the Grenadines have six while Guyana are on three and Dominica bottom of the table with one point. 

In the earlier matches on Sunday, Barbados trounced Guyana 5-3 while Colombia beat Antigua and Barbuda 2-0.