Benna Boys Crash Out Of Nations League Following Shock Loss To Barbados

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Photo action between Collymore Shaquan #16 of Barbados and D´Andre Bishop of Antigua and Barbuda at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. (www.concacaf.com)
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By Neto Baptiste

Antigua and Barbuda missed an opportunity to advance to the Gold Cup prelims following a 2-1 loss to Barbados in their League B, Group A Concacaf Nations League clash here at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Sunday.

A win would have moved the Benna Boys into the second position on the four-team standings, but the loss at the hands of bottom of the table Barbados means that group leaders Cuba and second placed Guadeloupe will advance instead.

Although level with Guadeloupe on nine points, Antigua and Barbuda sits third in the standings with a negative two goal-difference while the French nation is second with a goal difference of nil.

Ironically, it was the home team that drew first blood against Barbados when England-based Myles Weston put them ahead on minute 31.

The goal sent Antigua and Barbuda into the interval with a one-nil advantage, but the tide changed in the second half and with a few tactical adjustments, Barbados took control of the contest.

Thierry Gale drew Barbados level in the 62nd minute before Tajio James scored the winner just three minutes from regulation time to hand the visitors their first win of the tournament.

Coach of the Antigua and Barbuda Benna Boys, Mikele Leigertwood, said the home team failed to capitalise on a number of opportunities to put the game away.

“They really had nothing to lose and we probably didn’t quite manage the game well enough unfortunately, but I think if you look at the state of play and the amount of corners we had, we probably didn’t test the keeper enough times, but we certainly got in the final third and we made a lot of opportunities to get in the box,” he said.

“They probably had two or three opportunities. We were aware of their threats and we’re probably a bit disappointed with how we dealt with those moments and it obviously resulted in the two goals that they had,” he added. 

Antigua and Barbuda had, just four days prior, beaten Guadeloupe one-nil to improve their chances of advancing from the group.

Leigertwood, a former national player, said the team had to dig deep for the win.

“We were playing away from home with some real difficult moments. We were playing against a good team in terms of Guadeloupe where the pitch wasn’t really quite good enough for us to try and play football, but we managed to find a way to win the game. We stuck to the game plan because they are a good side, a well-organised side with lots of good individual players,” the coach said.

The loss was Antigua and Barbuda’s third in their six showings. It followed the team’s one-nil triumph over Guadeloupe on Thursday. Cuba heads the standings with 15 points.

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