Second half goals by Sunderland teammates Kenwyne Jones and Dwight Yorke paved the way for Trinidad and Tobago to overcome Cuba 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium to finish comfortably in second behind the United States to advance into the CONCACAF finals of World Cup 2010 qualifying.

T&T finished the Group Stage with 11 points ahead of Guatemala(5) and Cuba(3) with the United States topping the group with 15 points.

The Soca Warriors joined Mexico, Honduras, USA (2-0 winners over Guatemala on Wednesday night), El Salvador and Costa Rica in the hexagonal stage which begins on February 11. The draw takes place in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Kenwyne Jones broke the deadlock in the 67th minute leaving the Cuban defence for dead with his pace after a neat through ball by his English Premiership side teammate Dwight Yorke to powerfully push the ball through the advancing Danis Quintero Chevans following worries over T&T's first half performance.

Two minutes later Jones returned the favor slipping the ball through the Yorke and the T&T captain showed off the striking skills of his days with Manchester United to fake goalkeeper Chevans and his assisting defenders twice before slotting the ball into the net giving the home side a 2-0 advantage in the space of two minutes.

And United Petrotrin playmaker Keon Daniel closed off the scoring in the 89th minute finishing superbly from above the area with his favored left foot with the ball clipping the crossbar before sinking into the back of the net past Chevans for a 3-0 finish with the Warriors turning over a less impressive first period.

T&T should have taken an earlier advantage in just the 3rd minute of play when defender Jenier Molina gifted Russell Latapy the ball just outside the area and after waiting on support the ‘Little Magician’ as he is famously called went for goal missing just wide of the upright.

T&T then allowed the Cubans movement through the middle on occasions which gave the visitors shooting opportunities in the early period which fortunately for goalkeeper Clayton Ince was directly at him.

T&T’s Kenwyne Jones was close to hitting the target after towering his opponents to header on goal off Keon Daniel’s corner from the right only for defender Joel Valencia to get his head to ball putting in out for another corner in the 17th minute.

However it was Mario Leonard’s effort in the 24th minute that came closest to the opening item when his blast from the right beat a diving Ince at far post only to crash into the upright and back out into play.

Three minutes later Jones came close again for the Warriors when his downward header on goal off Carlos Edwards crashed into the ground and over bar to the relief of the Cubans.

Cuba again forced work out of Ince, this time a push over bar when Luis Ramirez opened up room for himself on defenders Cyd Gray and Dennis Lawrence to shoot on goal from just above the area in the 29th minute.

T&T went on to have the last two attempts on goals before the stalemate half came to a close with Chris Birchall missing just high after turning and shooting on goal after receiving a pass from Yorke.

And three minutes before the interval Russell Latapy—fan favorite—had the Warriors’ supporters off their seats with a neat chip to evade his man before blasting a shot on goal which flew over goal after a combination of passes by the home side dismantling the Cubans.

T&T went on to win the match 3-0 in the second half which they dominated and should have awarded themselves with more goals against their name.

In the 52nd minute  Kenwyne Jones was denied by goalkeeper Chevans after the T&T forward shot directly at the Cuban number one.

Chevans was brilliant again in the 56th minute denying Jones’ powerfully struck effort inside the area after Yorke played Latapy on and the ‘Little Magician’ sneaked the ball to the Sunderland forward.

On the other end Ince was brilliant keeping out the Cubans with a reflex save on the hour mark.

It turned from missed opportunities to a miserable nightmare for the home side when teammates Carlos Edwards and Chris Birchall saw their opportunities denied by the posts.

Edwards had a go at goal from distance hitting the crossbar in the 61st minute and Birchall’s deflected shot on goal caught goalkeeper Chevans racing off his line as the entire stadium watched the looping—in slow motion—crash onto the upright and out of play in the 64th minute.

But the horror didn’t last too long for the home side when Jones, Yorke and Daniel turned a goalless match into a 3-0 surprise in favor of the home side.

In the dying stages Birchall and Edwards anxious to get on the score sheet had a couple misses.

Teams
Trinidad and Tobago—Clayton Ince(gk), Dwight Yorke(capt.), Russell Latapy(Stern John 74th), Aklie Edwards, Keyeno Thomas, Dennis Lawrence, Chris Birchall(Khaleem Hyland 81st), Cyd Gray, Keon Daniel, Carlos Edwards, Kenwyne Jones(Jason Scotland 79th)

Goal Scorers
Kenwyne Jones 67’, Dwight Yorke 69’, Keon Daniel 89’

Coach—Francisco Maturana

Cuba—Danis Quintero Chevans(gk), Silvio Minoso, Jenier Molina, Hnier Cantillo, Joel Valencia (Juan Gonzalez 84’), Lazaro Pratt, Alianni Montova, Luis Ramirez, Roberto Balmaseda (Jensee Sallez 81’), Reisandry Cervantes, Mario Leonard (Evier Gonzalez 76’)

Coach—Raul Gonzalez Triana

Written By: Randy Bando