Patriot - Match Report.
Forumites, I got to the stadium a full hour before kick-off and the place was already 1/2 full. There was a mini-parade by some local Bermudians known as "Gumby" ceating quite a Carnival altmosphere...lines were around the stadium as hundreds were still outside waiting to get in. I must say that the Bermudians are great sports, and not at all intimidating...heck I even got a lift to the game from a Family heading up the hill. Having failed to get a ticket to the game, I was fortunate to get a Media Pass borrowed from the Local Tv station FRESHTV, the folks whom I was doing business with.
As I made my way to the Media booth, I bounced into Brent Sancho, Gally Cummings, Cyd Gray, Isa Mohammed, Ron LaForest and the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Peter Taylor who had all made the trip over..they were seated in the covered section, while I headed off to the Media booth, only to find it full - Alvin Corneal and Dave Lamy doing live commentary over the phone and about 6 other Bermudian tv and radio stations doing the same. I eventually chose to stand at the back along with a reporter from either the Express or the Guardian.
When the teams entered the field, the "Gumby Warriors' were greeted by loud screams, cheers, conch shell, noise-makers and horns while T&Twere treated to loud boos...onto the Anthems, I left the booth, sang our Anthem, greatful that the music that was missing at home last week had been found!
First half kicks off and I was loking excitedly to see how T&T would line up, something that is now becoming the norm, since you never know who Pancho is going to give the nod to. Well, lo and behold, there were FOUR changes to last week's starting line up - Jan Micheal Williams replaced Ince in Goal, Michael Edwards was making his debut at left-back, Stern and Scotland were relegated to the bench replaced by Darryl Roberts and Jerol Forbes, while Osei Telesford was dropped to right-back from his def-mid position the week before. So we again playing 3-5-2 with a different defensive combination and a debutant in the line-up...I feared the worst but hoped for the best! What worked in our favor, was that Bermuda never tested T&T for the entire first half, playing with ALL 11 players in THEIR 1/2 of the pitch for the vast majority of the first 45 mins. T&T launched raid after raid with the space allowed to them Carlos freed of defensive responsibilities was a constant threat on the right-wing and was twice sent through shooting wide once and over-pushing the next, as Whitley, Daniel and Hyland kept sending penetrative passes for the men forward. Roberts himself also was guilty of wasting some nice through balls, either losing his footing or allowing Bermudian defenders to get there ahead of him. He wold make amends though, after chesting down a ball in the area, and shooting one time, straight into the roof of he net 1-0 T&T...all the T&T men in the booth were jumping, except Alvin and Dave who kept on the commentary. The Bermudian crowd got silent, and the energy level of their team also dropped, as they started making unforced errors, but still we could not find a second goal, despite raid after raid and corner upon corner - Hislop headed well wide Forbes continuously lost the ball when played through and while occasionally making good link-ups with Roberts, he was just having a bad game, as his touch deserted him time and again. His substitution at the 1/2 was predictable. Enter T&T's leading goal-scorer Stern...but when the second half began, it was a different Bermuda, as they started attacking our flanks, with good effect, winning a corner and making life anxious for the T&T back-line, particularly Telesford and Michael Edwards, both of whom picked up injuries, with Edwards eventually being replaced by Kern Cupid (yep the same man who had a nightmare against England at his more natural RIGHT-back position), and I felt sorry for Michael Edwards, whom I felt played well, did the simple hings, and being a Big, tall man, won a lot of aerial battles as well. Telesford's injury was to his shoulder, sustained when a Bermudian attempting a scissors kick, only succeeded in nearly slicing Osei's arm off his body. It became apparent he was in some discomfort, as Carlos had to take ALL our remaning throw ins on the right-side. But he soldiered on! T&T's second goal came amid controversy much like Bermuda's last week.. talk about Deja Vu! The home team was trying to make a sub just as T&T won a free kick. While the player was enteing the field, the kick was taken and Stern rose above the defenders to head home 2-0 T&T !!! And I didn't even see it, as I was checking the number of the new player to see his name and as I looked up I heard Alvin souting "it's a goal for Trinidad and Tobago, from that man Stern John, on the bench in the first half, what a super-sub he's proven to be!" The Bermuda bench went crazy, with Coaches have to be warned/restrained by the 4th Official. The game resumes and is now T&T starts to run of steam - Roberts was clearly bun, Stern was complaining as usual that he wanted ball to foot and NOT ball to chase, Kern Cupid was racing upfield and not getting back quickly enough, Carlos started playing almost as an extra right-wing defender, Aurtis too was siting back and in one moment when tussling with a Bermudian player, some pushing and shoving from both parties resulted in a yellow card each. Hyland was also booked for deliberately tripping a Bermudian who was making a race towards T&T's goal All of a sudden the momentum had shifted. T&T's back was now to the wall, as Bermuda won free-kicks in very dangerous positions but simply could not make any of them count. On one of T&T's rare jaunts upfield, Carlos on a brakaway as felled and Aurtis took the resulting free-kick, about 18 yards out and stung the palms of the Bermudian keeper who push it away for a corner. Roberts was replaced by Stephan David with about 5 mins to go and despite some anxiuous moments T&T got the required 2-0 victory...but it was not a game for the faint of heart! WE HAVE REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL WORK TO DO OVER THE NEXT 2 MONTHS!!!!
Player ratings:-
JM Williams - 6 Had little to do, seems competent at crosses, but very suspect at coming off his line, poor distribution & positioning, he WILL be exposed against better teams a la USA
Michael Edwards 8 Can't fault this guy, seemed composed, did kick some long-balls to clear, but to my mind did the simple things competently until injured off...makes me wonder why he's been excluded til now??? Should feel proud of his debut!
Makan Hislop 6 While not playing badly, he uses his height to great effect defensively, but I'm always worried when he has the ball at his feet! Also, one thing Marvin Andrews always contributed was offensively, via headers...Makan would do well to work on this!
Dennis Lawrence 9.5 Man of the match for me he was in defence clearing, next thing he heading on goal upfront, AND he supporting midfield play...the man was like an energizer battey bunny, EVERYwhere!!!
Telesford 8 Like the work-rate, also brings some speed to the defence, but still too wild, must say tho he went to ground much less in this game, strong, aggressive in the air, think he's found his best position
Hyland 6.5 Didn't seem to relish playing inside the middle, drifted in and out of the game for long periods
Autis/Otis 8.5 Worked hard, in both attack and defence constantly tried to set up others and generally gave a good performance, leading by example
Carlos 7 Seemed off his game but STILL showed his class, albeit in spurts, finishing was bad tonight but build-up play was good, although some crosses were not up to his usually high standard
Keon Daniel 7.5 Probably the best/hardest I've seen this guy play, ran hard, but like many others, appeared to run out of steam towards the end..still believe he would serve us best in the middle and Collin Samuel should be brought back to the left-wing tho. KD is too thin and nashy for the flanks.
Daryl Roberts 8 - ran into spaces, harrassed defenders, won a lot of air ball, played with back to goal and shot when it was on, good link play..needs to work on his shooting while under pressure and fitness level..GREAT goal!
Jerol Forbes 4 - Worst player in white tonight, was out hustled by Bermuians, lacked the agression needed for this game and shooting was wayward to be kind
Stern 7 Expected more from him, having come on as a sub - to me he worked harder last game! Besides his allimportant goal tonight, was guilty of "loafing", but as he always seems to do, scores when it really matters
Kern Cupid 6 Very useful player going forward, but his over-exuberance doing so can be costly, also needs to curb his tendency to over-dribble - dangerous tendency for any defender, has to work on his passing accuracy and choice of pass. Has potential, but needs to be reigned in.
Stephan David Can't rate him - he only spent 5 mins on field
So that's my 2 cents. For what it's worth, I see far too many deficiencies in this team, and if Manturana remains as Coach and continues to ignore Sancho, Birchall, Samuel, Noel, who would all bring some much needed EXPERIENCE, we will be in for some serious licks in the next round, where we will face more potent theats than the Gumby Warriors.
