A trio of goals in the first 34 minutes was all Trinidad and Tobago needed to come away with a 3-0 victory over The Bahamas in men’s soccer action at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium on Friday.
That loss has The Bahamas senior men’s national soccer team sporting a 1-4 win/loss record to sit in third with three points in League B Group C action in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Nations League. Trinidad and Tobago remains in second place with 12 points and a 4-1 record.
The last time these two teams played, The Bahamas played a more defensive game with just one forward. This game they played with two forwards, and head coach for The Bahamas Nesley Jean said they wanted to play a more attacking game.
“We were in a stage where we wanted to press and get higher up the pitch and closer to their goal,” Jean said. “That is why we wanted to push up our team. When we look at it, we have a young team with most of these guys being in their early 20’s with some being 16, but no excuses. We are going to make mistakes but this is where we learn. As we keep training together and playing more games, we will get there gradually.”
The away team came in with a game plan to attack the Bahamian side early. That worked as they got on the scoreboard in the fifth minute of the game from a rocket shot as the Bahamian goalkeeper Ian Lowe had no chance of stopping it. The shot was in the top-left corner.
Trinidad and Tobago’s head coach Angus Eve, who was happy to get the three points for the win on the road, said his team stuck to their game plan.
“We were trying to put them on their back foot as early as possible. We thought we had the players to hurt them, so we wanted to go after them early. We were able to get a goal in the third minute of the game in Trinidad where they played more defensive. They tried to play a little bit more and it opened up spaces for us,” Eve said.
The Bahamas had a chance in the 10th minute to get an equalizer but a well-placed cross from Quinton Carey to Christopher Rahming saw the latter putting the ball too high off a header.
Trinidad and Tobago’s captain Joevin Jones joined Moses on the scoresheet 21 minutes later with a goal of his own. He was able to put away a perfectly timed pass at the top of Lowe’s six-yard box for an easy goal. Trinidad and Tobago’s Ryan Telfer got a through ball and was able to find the back of the net in the 34th minute to put the visitors up 3-0.
The Bahamas had another chance at scoring just before the half-time whistle when William Bayles struck the ball from outside the 18-yard box to call the Trinidadian goalkeeper Niklas Frenderup into action. He made his first save of the game and denied The Bahamas an opportunity.
With Trinidad and Tobago scoring at such a high rate, it appeared that they had more in their arsenal. However, The Bahamas’ side did not concede another goal in that first half and the visitors went into half-time up 3-0.
Jean said he expected Trinidad and Tobago to come out like this.
“We expected them to be aggressive. If you watched the last two games that we played them, we knew they were coming because we played them close the previous two games. Our guys are young and they are going to make mistakes,” Jean said.
In the second half, the Bahamian side was playing a lot more relaxed and composed. They were unable to find the back of the net although they had several chances to score. They did not concede any more goals.
One of those young players who Jean spoke about is center back Roen Davis. He had some key defensive plays and even created some attacking for The Bahamas.
“I just wanted to go out there today (Friday) and play some defense and not give up a goal,” Davis said. “It was a tough game today and we have to learn from our mistakes. I learned to not step too high and to compose myself.”
Playing on the side of Davis was veteran Lesly St. Fleur who said that it is a learning process.
“It is a pleasure playing with them,” St. Fleur said. “Being an older player on the team, I learn from them and they learn from me – we have to learn from each other to make the team better. It is a young squad and we have to keep them going with a mix of veterans to keep the team going.”
Both teams left The Bahamas to play their final game of the tournament. The Bahamas’ team is in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to take on that country in a match where they have to win or draw to stay in League B. A loss will relegate The Bahamas to League C. St. Vincent and the Grenadines has one point. That match will take place at the Arnos Vale Stadium in the capital city of Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Jean said that they will be ready for that match.
“We need to get our heads up. They did well today (Friday),” Jean said. “We are going to tweak a little because they (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) are a different team. They play a different formation. We did our studies and we will be ready.”
Trinidad and Tobago went home to play the Group C leader, Nicaragua, who has one more point than them. That game, which will be played in Tobago today, will determine the winner of the group.
