Second-half substitute Shahdon Winchester scored three minutes into second-half stoppage time and earned Trinidad and Tobago a 1-1 draw with Panama in an Olympic qualifying fixture, yesterday .
While both teams would have wanted a win, the draw kept both teams alive going into tomorrow's final round of Group B preliminary round matches where T&T will face Honduras from 9.30 p.m. (T&T time), and Panama will take on Mexico in the 11.30 p.m. second match. Mexico and Honduras were locked in battle after press time last night.
Winchester, who replaced Micah Lewis in the 62nd minute, tapped in a loose ball at the left post after the ball bounced around in the Panama penalty area. Daniel Cyrus had a long throw into the box from the right side that Sheldon Bateu and Karreem Moses both had touches on before it landed at the feet of Kevin Molino at the top of the area. Molino, who scored T&T's only goal in a 7-1 loss to Mexico on Friday, drove the ball toward net, where Rolando Algandona blocked it near the line. But it bounded toward Winchester, who simply volleyed it in.
Panama appeared on their way to victory after Cecilio Waterman scored in the 69th, three minutes after entering the game. Rolando Algandona launched a free kick into the area from distance and T&T keeper Andre Marchand came off his line to try to punch clear. But the ball only went as far as Anibal Godoy standing in the middle of the penalty area, where he settled it off his chest and hit a right-footed shot that was heading toward the right post before Waterman deflected it with the inside of his heel.
The match was marred by steady rain that began an hour to an hour and a half before kickoff in 57-degree Fahrenheit (14 Celsius) weather. A relatively heavy shower intensified at the start of the second half and made traction difficult, with players from both teams losing their footing with standing water kicking up around the players' feet. Both sides had reasonable chances early in the first half with Panama's Victor Barrera having a ball blocked off his foot in the middle of T&T's penalty area in the second minute and T&T's Lewis getting a clean look from distance with a shot that rolled into Panama keeper Luis Mejia in the 12th.
Panama had the better of play and the best chance of the first half in the 26th when Godoy hit a shot from 25 metres that Marchand knocked away with his right hand. Marchand was playing two days after suffering a mild concussion in a collision with Nestor Calderon in the 77th minute of Mexico's 7-1 win.
The second half became more of an adventure as the rain soaked the natural grass surface at The Home Depot Center. Panama began to claim more of the possession and chances, with Marchand having to go low to stop Amir Waithe's try from distance in the 51st and Yairo Glaize Yao's shot that went high in the 72nd. Jamal Gay had T&T's best chance with a header that went straight to Mejia in the 73rd.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com