Bermuda off the mark but stay goalless

Colin Thompson

Published Nov 10, 2018 at 8:00 am (Updated Nov 10, 2018 at 12:44 am)

Final throes: Bermuda get ready to face Barbados in their closing match at the Concacaf Under-20 Championship in Florida (Photograph by Crenstant Williams)

Bermuda earned their first point in their final group match at the Concacaf Under-20 Championship in Bradenton, Florida, yesterday.

Ray Jones’s side played to a goalless draw against Barbados at the IMG Academy where both sides were denied by the woodwork.

“We fought right up until the final whistle in the final match,” Jones said. “Goals win games, however.”

Bermuda finished bottom of group E after taking a point from their four matches, in which they failed to score and conceded ten goals, to exit the tournament at the group stage.

Jones’s team went into yesterday’s match with nothing other than pride to play for, having had their aim of reaching the Under-20 World Cup in Poland next year dashed after Costa Rica’s 1-0 victory over Haiti on Monday.

“It was a hard tournament and we didn’t achieve what we had hoped to,” Jones added.

Bermuda lost their other matches to Costa Rica 5-0, Haiti 4-0 and St Lucia 1-0, the latter a contest they dominated and had a goal disallowed for offside,

“Four matches in ten days was a tall order for our team,” Jones said. “But we improved as the tournament progressed and the players never quit.”

Quinaceo Hunt, the Bermuda goalkeeper, was tested early as he made four two saves to keep Barbados at bay.

Bermuda’s first real chance arrived in the 28th minute when striker D’Andre Wainwright, one of four changes Jones made to his starting line-up from the one that played against St Lucia two days earlier, dragged a shot wide.

Wainwright threatened again early in the second half when he had two efforts saved by Nashton Browne, the Barbados goalkeeper, and another crash against the woodwork.

That was the closest Bermuda came to scoring, and in the end they were fortunate to come away with a share of the spoils when Barbados struck the woodwork twice before Hunt pulled off another save deep in stoppage time.

TEAMS

Barbados (4-4-2): N Browne — Andre Applewhaite, T Holder, R Kellman, K Trench — Ackeel Applewhaite, S Hoyte, R Francis, R Trim (sub: S Phillips, 75min) — D Howell (sub: D Greenidge, 66), N Reid-Stephen (sub: R Gittens, 56). Substitutes not used: L Brathwaite, Y Blackman, E Downey, A Greaves, S Browne. Booked: Trench.

Bermuda: (4-4-2): Q Hunt — C Booth (sub: A Burgess, 77), J Dublin (sub: Z Burgess, 46), E Moore, M Hardtman — D Richardson, J Furbert, T Williams, S Burgess — D Wainwright (sub: K Scott, 65), R Smith-Jones. Substitutes not used: Y Williams, W Spencer, A McDowall, J Sealey, N Spence. Booked: Dublin, Moore.

Referee: S Chavarria (Honduras).

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