The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The home team scored the final goal of the Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup but finished the tournament winless and in fourth place in the final standings.

The Bahamas suffered a 4-2 loss to the United States in the third place match last night at the National Beach Soccer Stadium in the tournament presented by Beach Soccer Worldwide. Mexico took the Cup championship with a 5-4 win over Spain.

The United States got three goals from team captain Nicolas Perera and another goal from Jason Dos Santos en route to the win. The Bahamas got goals from Lesly St Fleur and the final shot - a header from Daron Beneby with 17 seconds left to play.

“It is an A class effort, unfortunately we didn’t come out with the result that we wanted, but when you step out onto the pitch, win, lose, or draw you want it to be a learning experience. To play at this level we know the amount of work we have to do and the number of games we have to play in order to maintain,” said Bahamas team captain Gavin Christie.

“We have to introduce the young players to the sport to keep pushing the younger guys like myself. So it was a good experience for them this tournament and hopefully in another year or so they will be the stars of the team.”

The Americans’ first shot on goal early in the second period struck the goalpost just beyond outstretched arms of Bahamian goalkeeper Julio Jemison.

Perera would score in the box just moments later at the 7:39 mark. Dwayne Forbes had an opportunity for the equaliser on a penalty shot near the nine-minute mark of the second period, but it went wide right. Perera scored his second goal of the match on a penalty kick to take a 2-0 lead.Christie attempted to respond on the ensuing kickoff but a spectacular effort from US goalkeeper Christopher Toth kept the Bahamas scoreless.

The next opportunity for the Bahamas to score was on a St. Fleur’s header, but it was turned away by Toth once again.

The Americans added to their lead when Oscar Reyes assisted Dos Santos whose goal found the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

The Bahamas would finally get on the scoreboard St. Fleur took advantage of a miscommunication between Toth and defender Christian Blandon.

Perrara scored his third goal on the ensuing possession just seconds later to put the US ahead 4-1.

Beneby’s late header would bring about the game’s final margin.

The Beach Soccer Worldwide Tour Bahamas Beach Soccer Cup 2018 came to the Bahamas approximately one year after the country hosted the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

The event featured the hosts, United States, Mexico and Spain in a round robin format over three days.

“The team has progressed [since the World Cup] but it can’t be a year in between high-level games like this. We have to be playing games like this every three months and that’s a challenge,” Christie said, “These teams we are playing against, they play high-level games every other month so they stay fit and they continue to grow. It cannot be a year in between games for us.”

The Bahamas began the competition against Mexico, the eventual Cup champion, but suffered a 5-1 loss Friday night. They returned on Saturday with a 7-4 loss to Spain and were relegated to the third place game against the USA. Spain took an early 2-0 lead but Lesly St. Fleur’s goal would put the Bahamas on the scoreboard in the opening moments of the second period. Spain eventually scored several unanswered goals and took a 7-2 lead. Gavin Christie and St. Fleur would tack on goals late for the game’s final margin.

In the opening game of the competition, Spain edged out the United States 4-3, with the go-ahead score of the game coming in the final 20 seconds of the match.

Mexico earned their spot in the title match with an 8-6 win over the United States in the latest chapter of a heated CONCACAF rivalry.