Jason Roberts MBE

Grenada and Blackburn Rovers striker, Jason Roberts, has today been awarded an MBE in The New Years Honours List.

The 31 year old Blackburn Rovers striker was given the award for his charitable work through his Jason Roberts Foundation which gives young people in the UK and Caribbean the means to play and get involved in sport.

We would like to offer Jason and his staff our wholehearted congratulations. The hotel has worked with the Foundation on a couple of events – most notably in June of last year when we had the Liverpool FC Legends staying here. The ex Liverpool players were visiting the island to play against a Grenada Select XI to raise funds for the Jason Roberts Foundation. We feel very honoured to have been a part of that and look forward to working with Jason again in the future.

Kithson Bain of Grenada

Following Tranmere Rovers’ successful appeal for a work permit for Grenadian striker Kithson Bain, it has been confirmed that the player will make the move to the club after having signed on the dotted line.

Barnes said; “He was the top scorer in the Caribbean Cup with six goals when I was manager of Jamaica and he carried the Grenada side. He will add another dimension to our attacking options and I look forward to working with him.”

Tranmere badly need a lift after a troubled start to the season, they have won only one of their opening six league games, having lost the other five and they find themselves early season relegation candidates as a result.

Kithson Bain of Grenada

Tranmere Rovers have moved within sight of signing Kitson Bain to play in the English League One after the club received a governing body endorsment for the player. Rovers will now apply for Bain to be granted a Leave to Remain from UK Work Permits.

It seems as if the Tranmere manager, John Barnes, has used local knowledge in signing the player through his time in the Caribbean managing the Jamaica national side. Barnes is of Jamaican origin himself and was due to stay at Calabash in June when the Liverpool FC Legends came to Grenada, at the time it was his negotiations for the appointment as Tranmere Rovers manager that meant he could not make the trip at the last minute.

John Barnes said: “Kithson is a big, strong, quick striker. We need a bit more strength up front and Kithson will provide it. He will be a good addition to the squad.

“He was the top scorer in the Caribbean Cup when I was manager of Jamaica and he carried the Grenada side.”

Last night Grenada ended their 2009 Gold Cup campaign with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Honduras in Massachusetts.

Grenada’s game was again marked by defensive mistakes and with only 71 seconds on the clock Honduras got in behind the Spice Boyz defence, goalkeeper Andray Baptiste was late to the ball, slid and missed which gave Walter Martinez an easy tap in.

On 25 minutes Honduras’ advantage was doubled. Baptiste saved an initial header from Roger Espinoza but the ball bounced back into play for Alan Lallin to nod square to Espinoza to head in at the second attempt.

Grenada were still making chances and can take a lot of heart from this as they exit the competition. On 35 minutes Delroy Facey was unfortunate to hit a post after beating the goalkeeper and with half time looming Anthony Modeste missed a good chance following a corner kick.

Moving into the 56th minute Honduras made it 3 -0 with a header from Melvin Valladeres and then on 67 minutes Honduras were given a penalty after Michael Mark brought down Mariano Acevedo. Again the Spice Boyz showed their spirit in adversity, the initial kick was saved but the rebound found the taker, Carlos Costly, for another tap in.

More chances for Honduras followed along with a notable attempt for Grenada which almost gave them a consolation but Marcus Julien’s shot was just saved by Doris Escobar.

All in all Grenada can take a lot of experience from this tournament. They came to the USA after qualifying for the Gold Cup finals for the first time in their history while also being the smallest nation ever to make the finals. The experience will no doubt have taught them a lot and they should become a lot stronger for it.

Post now updated with video higlights.

Despite losing an early goal from a Haiti free kick the Spice Boyz took the game back to Haiti and carved out a few good chances, Delroy Facey missed the best when he hit too high from close range. Haiti were a constant threat though and with 12 minutes left a calamitous mix up in the Grenada defence let the opposition in to seal the game.

Hard luck Boyz, let’s hope for better in the game against Honduras. For a full match report click here.

USA made no mistake against Grenada in Seattle yesterday, the CONCACAF Gold Cup Group B game ended in a 4-0 win for USA with goals from Stuart Holden, Freddy Adu, Robbie Rogers and Charlie Davies. Brief video highlights are above (we couldn’t find any with English commentary) and you can click here for a full match report. Grenada will be left hoping for a better performance against Honduras and Haiti in their remaining group games.

We’ve been alerted that you can watch this afternoon’s Grenada vs USA game for free online so please click here for instructions.

The game is in Seattle and kicks off at 6pm PT which is 1am on the 5th July (Sunday) GMT. We’re hoping for a Grenada win but it’s a really big ask!