PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC)
Jamaica's young Reggae Boyz and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) will clash in one of two semi-final matches in the Caribbean Football Union Youth Cup, after handsome wins in quarter-final action on Wednesday night.
While Jamaica cruised past Guadeloupe 3-1 at Guaracara Park, T&T also experienced little bother in knocking over the Dominican Republic 3-0 at the Marvin Lee Stadium.
The two regional powerhouses will meet in today's second semi-final at the Marvin Lee Stadium.
In the other semi-final, Cuba and Haiti will face off after contrasting quarter-final wins. Cuba held off Bermuda 2-1 while Haiti swamped St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) 6-0 to advance.
Jamaica got on the scoresheet first through Prince Samuel who netted in the 15th minute while Kavarse Bloomfield doubled the lead six minutes later, for a 2-0 cushion at the interval.
Lilie Bernard got Guadeloupe back into the match with a 76th minute strike, but, a minute from full-time, Marvin Morgan sealed the win for the Reggae Boyz to set up the semi-final meeting with the hosts.
T&T, meanwhile, got a hat-trick from captain Jerrel Britto (25th, 85th, 90th) to cruise into the final four.
Haiti stayed on course for a second FIFA Under-17 World Cup appearance after an impressive mauling of SVG.
Jeff Theodore led the way for the Haitian side with a hat-trick (12th, 15th, 45th) while Chery Fritz Olsen, Gregory St Louis and Altejacques Samuel added one each.
Cuba were workmanlike in their win over Bermuda with Randy Lizama handing the Cubans a 1-0 half-time lead with a 27th minute goal while Louis Portal made it 2-0 in the 75th.
Two minutes later, Dante Vance Leverock reduced the deficit for Bermuda, but that was as close as they would get.
The finalists will secure the two places available from CFU to the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, scheduled for Mexico next April. Four teams will qualify for next year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.
T&T, Haiti and Jamaica all participated at the last CONCACAF Under-17 tournament, which was played in Jamaica and Honduras, following which T&T and Haiti qualified for the Under-17 World Cup in Korea last year.