Going into Wednesday’s friendly encounter against Bermuda, local fans would have headed to the Hasely Crawford Stadium expecting nothing less than a victory but more importantly expectations of a compact performance from the “Warriors” would have been high on the hope list. Indeed they got that, but what they may not have expected was a barrage of missed opportunities from famed striker Stern John.
The Coventry City striker would have left the Panamanians a little less cautious of his threats on goal as he squandered at least five textbook chances both in the first and second half.
Aside from that,he did manage to net in the 65th minute as the “Warriors” romped home a 4-0 win against the lesser experienced Bermudans. Left to sit in the stands after arriving from Glasgow the previous evening was Marvin Andrews while Brent Sancho and Ian cox suited up but didn’t take the pitch as their teammates went about the evening's proceedings without trouble.
The first miss came on 14 minutes after T&T controlled the pace of the game in the early stages. A right side cross by Carlos Edwards left John having to stretch backwards to connect but goalie Nigel Burgess managed to push the ball outside for a corner. A minute later Leslie “Tiger” Fitzpatrick met a short left side corner from Chris Birchall before firing a volley which left Burgess saving well to his left.
Then in the 24th minute, the miss of the match occurred when Atiba Charles squared for John and with the goal at his mercy, he dragged his effort over bar with Burgess already beaten. “Like yah need a compass on yah boots,” an outraged Nutsman shouted as the fans expressed their dismay with the missed chance.
The Bermudans did have a try at goal in the 27th minute when Jahnai Raynor saw his effort go over bar from the left of the box.
Four minutes later, Kenwyne Jones took on the defense and created another chance for John but once again, the former Birmingham City man could only put the ball over.
But John would have felt somewhat better in the 34th minute when his pressure on the run against Kentoine Jennings led to the Bermuda turning Edwards’ ride ball past his own goalkeeper for a 1-0 T&T lead,
Jones then showed himself up a little more before the break with three attempts on goal, one being a header which went over bar from close up on the near post.
The Southampton striker made amends for his earlier misses two minutes into the second half. Chris Birchall picked out Edwards on the right and he slipped it inside for Jones to run in and coolly slot home on the near right post.
On 51 minutes, John then saw a lob over the goalie headed out and at that stage it seemed that the goalkeeping Gods were up against the number 14 T&T player.
Lanky defender Dennis Lawrence stood up well to push the ball into the net following a Birchall left side ball which had been nodded down by John to put T&T ahead 3-0.
Midfielder Aurtis Whitley was making his presence felt in the centre with Birchall and Fitzpatrick on the left and Edwards on the right would have left Leo Beenhakker with less headaches.
John still had time for one further miss when Edwards picked him out and after doing everything right, he then saw his shot trickle wide of the right post.
Substitutes Gary Glasgow and Brent Rahim both tried to make early impressions with efforts on goal moments after taking the field. John though, was finally able to get it right when Birchall send him through and raised it over the advancing keeper for a 4-0 scoreline.
T&T:
Clayton Ince, Anton Pierre, Christopher Birchall, Carlos Edwards, David Atiba Charles, Aurtis Whitley (Brent Rahim 79th), Kenwyne Jones (Gary Glasgow 61st), Stern John, Dennis Lawrence, Leslie Fitzpatrick (Densill Theobald 45th), Marlon Rojas (Glenton Wolfe 45th).
Subs not used: Brent Sancho, Ian Cox, Daurance Williams.
Bermuda:
Nigel Burgess (Daniel Johnson 77th), Khris Frick, Maurice Lowe, Kofi Dill, Damon Ming, Jelani Scott (Seion Darrell 79th), Jahnai Raynor (Logan Alexander 56th), Aljame Zuill, Stevie Astwood, Kentoine Jennings, Domico Coddington.
Subs not used: Cecoy Robinson, Rohaan Simons, Kyle Lightbourne