TT out World Cup qualifying - Guyana, Antigua advance

Trinidad and Tobago made a shock exit from the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday night, crashing to a 2-1 defeat to an upbeat Guyana in Georgetown.

Entering the game at the National Stadium at Providence needing to avoid defeat to stay alive in the CONCACAF zone, T&T conceded goals through Ricky Shakes and Leon Cort to crash out of the competition.

Only the second Caribbean team to qualify for a World Cup finals back in 2006, T&T got an injury-time strike from England professional and captain Kenwyne Jones, but it proved too little too late.

With a round left to play, unbeaten Guyana top Group B with 13 points and cannot now be overtaken.

Their win propelled them into the next round of qualifying where they will be joined by Antigua and Barbuda, who also shocked Haiti 1-0 in St John's, to also advance.

Kerry Skepple scored with eight minutes left in the contest at the Vivian Richards Stadium, to give the Antiguans an unassailable lead in Group F with 15 points.

Canada, who drew nil-all with St Kitts and Nevis in Group D and El Salvador, who beat Suriname 3-1 in Group A, also secured their berths in the next round.

Guyana will now meet El Salvador, Mexico and Costa Rica in the next round, while the Antiguans clash with giants United States, Jamaica and Guatemala.

No luck

There was no luck for any of the other Caribbean Football Union teams. St Lucia suffered a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Puerto Rico in Bayamon, Grenada were whipped 3-0 by Guatemala in Guatemala City, while Dominica were edged 1-0 by Nicaragua in Managua.

In the early evening fixtures, Bermuda beat 10-man Barbados 2-1 in Hamilton, St Vincent and the Grenadines drew 1-1 with Belize in Belmopan, US Virgin Islands hammered Curaçao 3-0 in Frederiksted and Dominican Republic swamped Cayman Islands 4-0 in San Cristobal.

The final round of CONCACAF qualifiers will be played tomorrow and Tuesday. T&T will host Guyana on Tuesday in Port of Spain.