The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Highlighted by a hat trick from English National League player Myles Weston, Antigua and Barbuda handed the Bahamas a “good home licking” in an impressive 6-0 victory in the battle of two winless teams in the second round of the Concacaf Nations League qualifying tournament.

Coming off their 3-0 loss to St Lucia last month at home, Antigua and Barbuda struck for four goals - two on penalty shots from Weston - in an aggressive performance in the first half on Friday night and they continued to apply the pressure to keep the Bahamas scoreless in their second straight game after getting shut out 4-0 by Belize on September 7.

Although Team Bahamas blew a couple of opportunities before a fairly sizable crowd of cheering spectators at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, Godet said it wasn’t a good showing and they will have to make some major adjustments moving forward.

With the win, which was further fuelled by a pair of goals from Calaum Martin and another from Peter Byers, Antigua and Barbuda improved to 1-1 as they prepare for their third match against Martinique on Monday, November 19 in Martinique, while the Bahamas dropped to 0-2 heading into their next match 3pm on Sunday, November 18, against Anguilla here at the stadium.

“This was a tough one. We got beat down today,” said a disappointed Bahamian coach Dion Godet. “I thought we prepared well enough, but Antigua brought in a top grade of players and not making excuses, Myles Weston plays in the English Premier (sic) League and so they had a very quality team, not the same that played St Lucia a couple weeks ago.

“Long story made short, we got beat down today. We just have to go back and into the think tank and recreate some things and be ready for Anguilla on November 18. This was not a good showing for us in any way. We got beat up in front of our home crowd. We got a good home licking.”

Godet admitted that some costly mistakes in the first half pushed Team Bahamas’ backs against the wall, but Antigua and Barbuda was relentless in their bid to stay on top in the second half.

“We came with one frame of mind and that was to win the game,” said Antigua’s head coach Derrick Edwards. “We have to give the Bahamas players credit because they never gave up. They fought right to the end, even though the scoreline wasn’t in their favor. They fought right down to the last minute.”

Edwards, however, said his team played in spurts, but they were that much better than the Bahamas to secure the win.

“They worked their socks off on the field tonight and so I’m very proud of them,” he stated. “When you get a start like that in the first half, you have to come out in the second half and just try to maintain your intensity. At the end of the day, six goals, we could leave with that. In our last gave, we gave up three goals, so we basically can erase them. It was a good victory for us.”

Weston, an English-born Antiguan international footballer who plays as a left winger for Ebbsfleet United, struck for his first goal on a penalty shot 12 minutes into the game. Three mutes later, Byers booted in the second goal through the middle of the Bahamas defense.

Sensing the urgency to build on their lead, Antigua out hustled the Bahamas up and down the field and Martin took advantage of a misjudgment by goalkeeper Julio Jemison that enabled him to break away from his lone defender for their third goal at the 39th minute.

Just before the half, Weston was awarded another penalty that he capitalized from the spot to extend their lead to 4-0.

“I think it was a very good performance from all of the players, considering that we lost 3-0 and the bounce back today was very good,” Weston stated.

For Weston, the performance could not have been highlighted more with his first career hat trick.

“I’m blessed. I can’t say no more,” he quipped. “To get a hat trick today was amazing. I had a cramp, but I told them to just give me five minutes more and I scored so God just blessed me with the last goal.”

The final goal to complete the hat trick came in the 77th minute and was one that he worked for, booting it past Jemison, who couldn’t get a handle of the ball. Weston’s re memorable moment came after Martin got his second goal in the 68th minute.

“I think we had a game plan, we struck to it and it worked out very well for us,” Martin said. “We knew what we came here to do and that was to get goals and we did it. We wanted to get as many goals in the first half as possible and then take it from there.”

Jemison said he “made a little more saves than I wanted too, but I left a few get away that I didn’t wanted too.”

He noted, however, that it was a good learning experience for Team Bahamas.

“We’re not at that level yet, but we will get there,” he projected. “They created more chances than us. I don’t think the defending was a problem. What happened was we found ourselves defending too much. We didn’t create as much chances as we wanted too. The ones were got, their keeper got some saves. We didn’t finish as well as they did in the goal post.”

oalkeepoercome outoin thw# scored from the spot before Byres added a second to put them 2-0 up in the first 15 minutes.

Although the game was out of reach, Team, Bahamas still gave it a gallant effort down the stretch to give the fans a little more to cheer for and a glimmer of hope for their next month in November. But Antigua tighten up their defense and made the Bahamas worked a little harder, but to no avail.

Team captain Lesly St Fleur said they will definitely look at what went wrong and try to correct their mistakes for their next game. hopefully, it will be enough to get them on the scoreboard before they head back on the road to play Dominica in their final qualifying match on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 pm.