Second draw ends Cayman’s World Cup hopes
(CNS): Despite holding Belize to a goal-less draw in the away leg, Cayman’s second 1-1 draw at home against the visitors on Sunday night ended the national team’s hopes of making it through to the next round. Despite the two draws, Belize’s goal in Cayman had the benefit of being the only away goal scored in the two games, sending them to the next round. Sunday’s match started well for Cayman when striker Mark Ebanks found the back of the Belize net in the 5th minute.
The crowd at the Truman Bodden Stadium went wild when, unmarked at the back post, Ebanks powered home a cross, putting pressure on the favourites. However, despite the home crown advantage, Belize were back in the game in the 20th minute when a free kick gave them the equalizer on a rain-soaked pitch.
A hard-fought second half saw Cayman pressing on in vain, and although Ebanks again hit the target towards the end of the game, the referee disallowed the goal.
Check back to CNS later today for video highlights and more from Cayman’s valiant efforts in the world cup qualifiers.
Belize free kick flies over the Cayman wall
Who was the Cayman player number 22? Outstanding and never stopped running or tackling. Sealy went from man of the match at Belize to substandard performance last night – he should have saved the shot from the free kick, his performance was erratic to say the least.