Montserrat’s World Cup dreams were shattered by Belizean hat-trick hero Deon McCauley in the opening qualifying game for the 2014 tournament, Belize eventually running out 5-2 victors. The Montserrat team featured many changes from their last fixture against Saint Kitts and Nevis in October's Carribean Cup, most notably the debut of Port Vale midfielder Anthony Griffith, who was made captain. A rain-sodden Ato Bolden stadium in Trinidad provided the venue for this first leg tie which attracted a crowd of around 150. Despite a bright start by the Montserratians, McCauley’s clinical finish put Belize ahead mid-way through the first-half after a period of sustained pressure. Parity was restored just before half-time though when Jaylee Hodgson converted a cross from Leovan O’Garro, raising hopes of an upset. However, Belize took control of the game early in the second-half, Harrison Roches scoring their second, before an Elroy Kuylen goal put the game beyond the islanders. McCauley completed his treble with further strikes in the 75th and 83rd minute, before Hodgson grabbed his and Montserrat’s second, four minutes from the end with an excellent header.
Speaking to fifa.com, Montserrat coach Kenny Dyer was disappointed with his side’s margin of defeat, but looking forward to the second leg in Belmopan, Belize on Sunday: “We put in a lot of effort in our preparation and it all fell apart in the second half in the space of ten minutes or so. That was the most disappointing thing for me because we did well in the first half. At half-time we thought there was a good chance we could get something from this game, but it didn’t turn out that way. Now we’ve got to re-group and get ourselves ready for the next game. We can still hold our heads high and go to Belize and come away with a positive result.”
As well as the honour of kicking-off the 2014 World Cup campaign, the match was also a landmark for Montserratian football in that it was the first time they have scored twice in a qualification game, whilst Jaylee Hodgson is now his country’s leading scorer in World Cup history. Perhaps he and his teammates can write another chapter into it on Sunday.
Montserrat team: Micah Hilton, Kendall Allen, Anthony Griffith (captain), Alex Dyer, Leovan O’Garro, Wayne Dyer (sub: Nyron Dyer 90 mins), Darryl Roach, Junior Mendes, Julian Wade (sub: Alexander Bramble 77 mins), Jaylee Hodgson. Subs not used: Andrew Julius, Clifford Joseph, Benjamin Manning, Stanford Jarrett and McPherson Meade.
Match highlights
No comments:
Post a Comment