Brave Bermuda in narrow defeat
By Stephen Wright (The Royal Gazette)
It may seem strange to get enthusiastic about a defeat, but Bermuda’s performance against Trinidad has offered a genuine ray of hope for the rest of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
There was to be no repeat of the joyous scenes of three years ago when Bermuda beat Trinidad 2-1 in their backyard; a 44th minute header from Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones saw to that.
But yesterday’s encouraging result, while unlikely to send shockwaves through the Caribbean, should give Bermuda’s players an injection of confidence ahead of their second qualifier against Guyana on Tuesday.
They were certainly able to leave the Hasely Crawford Stadium last night with their heads held aloft after providing a stern test for the Soca Warriors, who are 94 places above Bermuda in the FIFA rankings. And as first games in charge go, it was a pretty satisfying one for new head coach Devarr Boyles.
“We’re very proud of the players tonight,” he said. “It was a performance full of resilience and that was very encouraging.”
The only gripe Boyles had with his players was that they switched off just before the interval, allowing Trinidad to score the all-important goal.
“There was about ten seconds to go when we conceded and that was disappointing,” Boyles said. “We had to get back in the changing room and refocus.”
In front of crowd of 3,500, Bermuda made a cautious start to their first senior international in more than three years, with Trinidad twice striking the woodwork during the opening half an hour.
Although the visitors were creating very little, they gave Trinidad a scare when Nahki Wells forced a fumble from Trinidad keeper Tony Warner with a venomous drive from distance.
Bermuda, including several players making their World Cup qualifying debuts, held firm until the stroke half-time when Jones struck the decisive blow with a powerful header from a Darryl Roberts cross. Moments earlier the big striker had gone close to breaking the deadlock with another header which the impressive Hall palmed away with a flying save for a corner.
After the break, Trinidad went close to doubling their advantage when substitute Lester Peltier, who had replaced Stern John only seconds earlier, saw his chipped effort drift agonisingly over Hall’s crossbar.
At the other end, Wells was still causing a nuisance and again tested Warner, this time with a free header he should have perhaps done better with.
Far from getting carried away with Bermuda’s promising backs-to-the-wall performance, Boyles said it would mean nothing if they failed to get a positive result against Guyana.
“We can take a lot of heart from this performance,” he said. “All of Trinidad’s key players were out there tonight, all of them.
“We have to put the performance into perspective; to come to Trinidad and come up short is okay only if we go to Guyana and get something out of the game.”
Boyles admitted Bermuda would need to show more attacking intent against Guyana than they did against Trinidad.
“We’re weren’t able to show as much attacking potency as we would have liked and that’s something we will have to talk about before the Guyana game.”
Guyana made a winning start to their Group B campaign by beating Barbados 2-0 at home yesterday.
Bermuda’s starting line-up: F Hall, S Darrell, D Tankard (D Ming, 63), K Tucker, R Lee, T Manders, S DeGraff, R Lambe, T Burgess (L Dill, 63), N Wells (Z Lewis, 74), K Smith Substitutes: C Casey, T Bell, Q Maynard, A Simmons, J Davis
Skipper Khano: We must build on our performance
By Derek Dechabert (The Royal Gazette)
Bermuda skipper Khano Smith was thrilled with his side’s performance against Trinidad and wants it to be a stepping-stone for the rest of their World Cup campaign.
He believed Bermuda were unfortunate not come away a point against a Trinidad team packed with professional experience.
He was particularly impressed with Bermuda’s defending for managing to frustrate the hosts for long periods.
“The team played very well, obviously Trinidad have more experienced players in the international arena than us, but I couldn’t be more proud to captain a side,” said the 30-year-old.
“The guys showed the right attitude and mind-frame to be competitive.
“We played well, covered well for each other, and overall played for each other. It was a good performance and we can look to get a result in the next match.
“They couldn’t break us down and resorted to the long ball and playing Kenwyne Jones in over the top because our shape was good. They tried that the last time we played them, but this time they managed to nick a goal after we lost concentration just before the half.
“Going into the second half we didn’t know what to expect because we were using different tactics to try and get the second goal, but we stuck to our guns and in the end it’s okay to go into the next match off the back of this, although it’s a loss.”
The side assembled by head coach Devarr Boyles yesterday was one of the youngest Smith has played in, with the former New England Revolution man pleasantly surprised with how well the newcomers acquitted themselves. “We have a talented group so we will only get better as we go on,” he said. “When you look at this side we have 17-year-olds as well as experienced international players.
“We are all familiar with Trinidad, especially me, but this time around we had a bunch of younger new guys in the side as well as a few guys that were here a few years back, so we knew what to expect from them and we made it difficult for them again.”
Other than a few games for the Bermuda Hogges this summer, Smith hasn’t played regular football since being released by the Revolution at the end of last season. And he admitted towards the end of the game his lack of match action showed.
“I started cramping up with about 20 minutes to go, so for precautionary measures I played in defence so I didn’t have to do that much running in the final moments,” Smith said.
Smith has urged his team-mates to build on yesterday’s encouraging performance and claim all three points when they take on Guyana in their second Group B qualifier on Tuesday.
“Playing the favourites (Trinidad) on the road in the first game is good because it’s the hardest game.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t get the right result, but we can move on from and hopefully get the job done against Guyana.”
Trini had a lucky break, says Wells
By Colin Thompson (The Royal Gazette)
Very little separated Bermuda and Trinidad during yesterday’s World Cup qualifier in Port-of-Spain.
That’s the way Bermuda’s professional striker Nahki Wells summed up his team’s narrow loss at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
“We were in the game but they got their lucky break at a crucial time and that was probably the difference between the two teams. There wasn’t too much that separated us.”
The Soca Warriors notched the eventual game winner just before the break when Bermuda switched off momentarily.
“They created a good opportunity and maybe one or two mental lapses gave them the opening and they took their chance,” Wells added.
With better fortune in front of the uprights the Bradford City striker might’ve netted a precious away goal for his country.
“I got a few shots off. We didn’t really create a lot of clear opportunities but we did have some chances,” he said.
“I was in once and a few others but we probably will not make the same mistakes playing with each other a little longer.”
Wells credited his team’s defence to limiting heavily fancied Trinidad to just one goal.
“I give our defence all the credit in the world.
“They kept us in the match and didn’t get caught out chasing,” he said. “Everyone played their part from the defensive midfield all the way back to the ‘keeper.
“I give them all the credit for just conceding one goal, which was definitely a good achievement for them.”
Wells reckons he and his team-mates will have gained something from their Trinidadian experience.
“We gained a lot from the match from the few mistakes we made, which usually can cause you to concede at crucial times,” he said.
“We just need to pay a bit more attention during crucial times of the match moving onto the next game (against Guyana).
“We can take the confidence and positive things from today’s (yesterday) match and leave the bad ones behind and hopefully don’t make the same mistakes and come away with a better result against Guyana.
“We are building a little continuity in the squad and I think everyone that played did themselves and the country well.”
As a precautionary measure Wells was substituted in the 73rd minute after suffering cramp.
“Around the 70th minute I started to cramp up in both my calfs,” he said.
“I just let them (coaching staff) know I had cramp but didn’t intend to come off. “I just wanted to see if I could get some attention.”
