Barbados wins again

[MikeD]

Below is the result from the last match of Barbados' three-match tour of Bermuda. The first two results were posted below.

Barbados now plays Grenada on Jan 11th before facing our lads on Jan 18th.

*****

(from Bermuda's Royal Gazette)

Ten-man Bermuda go down fighting

By Colin Thompson

Bermuda 0 Barbados 4

Barbados recorded a lopsided win over a ten-man Bermuda side yesterday to complete a three-game unbeaten tour of the Island and become the first overseas team to hoist the commemorative Dudley Eve Trophy in the process.

Playing before a large crowd at the National Sports Centre, the visitors took full advantage of Meshach Wade's 28th minute ejection for retaliation, adding three second-half goals to John Parris' sixth-minute strike and effectively throwing cold water on any potential New Year's Day celebrations.

Wade was carded for a hard tackle on Barbados' Randy Burrowes shortly after the two teams had to be separated for another incident. After a few words were exchanged, the former Bermuda skipper head-butted Norman Forde and immediately received his marching orders from referee Lyndon Raynor.

Play was then held up for several minutes as Bermuda team officials staged a protest over the decision which also saw Forde receive a yellow card for over-reacting to what really appeared to be a soft blow.

Nonetheless, the ejection proved costly for the home team and is almost certain to be the focal point of discussion for some time to come.

And although Bermuda battled on bravely in search of an equaliser and were able to keep the opposition at bay for long spells, all of their hard work came undone at the seams when further second-half strikes from Llewellyn Riley (51) and two goals in the space of two-minutes by Gregory Goodridge (74 and 76) – a former team-mate of Shaun Goater at Bristol City – finally silenced a brave Bermuda side.

Dandy Town striker Khano Smith – playing uncharacteristically deep in his own half during the second period – relentlessly plugged away at the opposition's defence along with team-mate Carlos Smith who came on as a first-half replacement for the out of touch Ralph Bean Jr after 33 minutes.

As he has so often done in the past, Kentoine Jennings put in another stellar performance at the heart of the Island's defence, while captain Dwayne (Streaker) Adams was called upon to make a spectacular diving save to deny Goodridge a deserved hat-trick in the 66th minute.

Play in the match was also fierce with some brutal tackles, at times, keeping referee Raynor on his toes. The FIFA official reached into his pocket on four other occasions in order to restore order in the camp.

Bermuda also made three changes to yesterday's team from the one which went down 2-1 to Barbados on Boxing Day. Sweeper Stanton Lewis was not included in the line-up, while both Kwame Steede and Damon Ming – starters in the first encounter – rose off the bench in the second half as coach Kenny Thompson plotted a strategy to get past the Bajans – but all to no avail.

Bermuda found chances fairly hard to come by yesterday with only strikers John Barry Nusum and Khano Smith receiving a real good look at goal either side of the interval.

Barbados, demonstrating an ability to switch into another gear whenever required, now head home to the Caribbean for an intense four-match pre-World Cup qualifying series of warm-ups against regional opposition.

"What made all the difference was when Bermuda lost that player (Wade). To play with only ten men is not easy and that made all the difference," commented a delighted Bajan coach, Kenville Layne, amid on-field celebrations.

"Sooner or later we knew Bermuda would give in and that's how we managed to score our goals.

"We came to Bermuda to use this tour as a training camp and bring our players closer together.

"And I really think we were able to adapt to the conditions today because it suited us more and it was like a motivation for us," he said in reference to yesterday's sun.

Meanwhile, the sombre look on Bermuda assistant national team coach Dennis Brown best described the feeling in the local camp.

"This game basically allowed us to gauge where we are in respect to the other Caribbean countries," he said.

"I thought mentally today we let ourselves down early and one thing we as coaches try to stress is that things that you might get away with on a Sunday, at the international level you must pay for them. We can't allow teams to score against us in the first five minutes. At this level it is hard being down 1-0 and trying to claw your way back."

Brown agreed Wade's ejection proved to be a turning point in the match.

"I thought we were a bit unfortunate, but this is only a stepping stone to where we want to go," he said. "We now know where we are and now we have to go back to the drawing board."

Bermuda Football Association president, Larry Mussenden, described the festive tour as a sweeping success, though he would have preferred to see the trophy remain on local shores.

"Indeed, it was a successful tour and we are very pleased with the performance of the Bermuda team and we are pleased to have put on a football spectacular for the Bermuda public," he said.

"This was a way for us to gauge exactly where we are on the international scene.

"Hopefully, our players have learned a lot from this tour and move on from strength to strength."

Bermuda: D.Adams, D.Thomas (K.Steede, 71), M.Hunt (L.Alexander 61), K.Jennings, K.Dill, M.Wade, D.Coddington (D.Ming, 58), J.Boyles (T.Manders, 63), J.Nusum, K.Smith (J.Peniston, 79), R.Bean Jr (C.Smith, 33).

Barbados: A.Chase, W.Sobers, J.Parris (B.Neblett, 39 mins), K.Cox, R.Burrows, R.Crosuenor, K.Hall, P.Lovell (W.Burrowes, 80 mins), N.Forde, G.Goodridge, L.Riley.

Booked: K.Dill (Bermuda); K.Cox, R.Burrowes, N.Forde (Barbados)

Sent off: M.Wade (Bermuda).

Men of the match: K.Jennings (Bermuda); G.Goodridge (Barbados).

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.

[Gian-Luca]

No Lucas for Barbados, for you Lynx lovers out there.

[Mimglow]

Is this the general group who will face us?

[canadiankick97]

I've looked at the Barbados Soccer Website and Lucas isn't even listed on there as a player for the national team.

Go figure.

[MikeD]

Barbados defeated Grenada 2-0 yesterday. Ryan Lucas came on as a sub in the 85th minute.

*****

Barbados earns third consecutive victory after 2:0 win over Grenada in friendly

11.1.04 - Barbados won their third consecutive international friendly after defeating visiting Grenada 2:0 at the National Stadium in Waterford on Sunday.

Barbados, who was coming off a pair of victories over the host Bermuda two weeks ago, got on the board in the 35th minute of the first half against Grenada with a goal by Norman Forde. Llewellyn Riley closed out the scoring for the bajans in the 58th minute of the second half for the 2:0 final.

Barbados will put the three-game winning streak on the line when they host Canada in a friendly at the National Stadium on 18 January at 20:00.

11.01.2004: Waterford, BARBADOS; National Stadium (A: 2000)

BARBADOS – GRENADA 2:0 (1:0)

Norman FORDE 35’; Llewellyn RILEY 58’

BRB: Bernard Howell (48: Jason Boxill) – Wayne Sobers, John Parris, Kirk Cox, Randy Burrowes, Stuart Hall (80: Brian Neblett), Kent Hall (65: Johnathan Straker), Norman Forde, Paul Lovell (74: Walton Burrowes), Gregory Goodridge, Llewellyn Riley (85: Ryan Lucas). Booked: Sobers 62’, Riley 79’

GRN: Kennedy Philip – Kellon Baptiste, Patrick Modeste, Franklyn Baptiste, Brian Benjamin, Jason James, Ian Andrew (62: Eric Thomas), Andy Augustine (46: Ashton Henry), Ricky Morris, Nigel Bishop (62: Kitwana Folkes), Dennis Rennie. Booked: none

R: Royon SMALL (BRB)