The Grenadians almost pulled off a shocker as they pulled out a draw with Group F favourites Martinique. Coming from behind twice, the Martinique players played to a tense 2-2 finish with the spice islanders. Shane Rennie was the star for the Grenadians when he served up the first of two goals in the 15th minute of play. Taking advantage of a defensive lapse to put one past the right of the keeper. The French islanders stormed back 32nd minute with a cracker of a shot from Eric Sabin. Rennie showed class and composure though to meet a ball in mid air with a bicycle kick that scorched the back of the net. It would settle at 2-1 on the stroke of half time. Martinique’s persistence would pay off in the 53rd as they were able to pull back the draw with a beautiful cross from Steve Gustan being met with a well positioned header from Eric Sabin. At the end of the game, Grenada 2 - Martinique 2

It was a resounding 7-1 spanking. Guadeloupe did not ease up off the throttle for their Group 2 opener with the Cayman Islands. Led by their débutante striker Michael Antoine-Curier, the francophone outfit put on a football clinic with sumptuous strikes that included 2 bicycle strikes, superb headers and some innovative running off the ball. When the match was done, Antoine-Curier had already secured his hat-trick, scoring four of the teams goals. Also assisting in the goal fest were Lery Havany, Cedric Collet with a triple assist, Loduic Gotin’s amazing run, and Gregory Gendrey’s curling goal.

Here is the lineup for the match:
Guadeloupe: 2. Meddy Lina, 4. Fabien Jerome, 5. Cedric Collet (8. Gregory Gendrey min 58), 6. Alain Vertot, 9. Loduic Gotin, 11. Michael Antoine-Curier( Gregory Gendrey min 68), 12. David, Fleurival (10. M Gomez min 73),13. J.Luc Lambourde, 15. Miguel Comminges, 16. Marius Fausta, 17. Lery Hanany

Subs: 5. Thomas Elliot, 10. Ercksen Brown, 12. Mario Dinnall, 17. Nikolai Hill

A lone goal by Stoke City striker Ricardo Fuller, decided the outcome for a crucial match against Mexico at the office for Jamaica. Jamaica came out attacking and the strategy paid of when a composed tap for Luton Shelton set up a beautiful floater from Fuller into the far corner of the Mexican goal, catching the keeper totally off guard. Even though the Mexicans got a number of chances to pull it back, an aggressive Jamaican presence prevented them from drawing level. In the end, Jamaica 1 - Mexico 0.

Jason Scotland posted a hatrick but Cornell Glen was not to be outdone with his 3 as Trinidad asserted their dominance on a less than impressive Dominican attack. The final score spoke volumes, 9-0, as the Trinis manhandled the Dominican Republic at home. The match saw Trinidad sporting the depth they had at their disposal as they welcomed back Dwight Yorke, Chris Burchall and Carlos Edwards into the lineup. Trinidad now sits second in the group on 4 points, tied with Guatemala.

After much wrangling and debate, the Stanford organizers and Digicel have settled their differences and it seems the richest cricket match, with a prize purse of $20 million is set to go ahead. The agreement clears the way for the series of matches, also between England, a West Indies 11, Trinidad & Tobago and Middlesex to begin as planned in October climaxing in a winner take all. The row had developed after an objection by Digicel to its brand absence after it’s $4 million a year sponsorship of West Indies cricket. After a court decision was won in favour of Digicel, key concessions were made and now the shirts of the Stanford Superstars team will bear the Digicel logo. Last night Sir Allen Stanford said in a statement:

“I am pleased that this matter has been finally resolved. We look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to Antigua to enjoy a fantastic week of cricket.”