The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Team Bahamas gave the home crowd many reasons to cheer with a dominant performance on the home pitch and former national team standout Nesley Jean got his first win in his new role as head coach.

The men’s national soccer team produced a 6-1 win over the Turks and Caicos Islands in an international friendly at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium Saturday night.

Terry Delancy Jr scored a hat trick and the Bahamas also received goals from Ricardo McPhee, Jaime Thompson and Lesly St Fleur en route to the win.

Delancy’s offensive outburst began almost immediately following kickoff with the game’s first goal in the opening minute.

Happy Hall’s long ball over the top found Delancy, who won the one-on-one battle against the keeper when his strike from the edge of the box found the far corner to give the Bahamas an early 1-0 lead.

In the eighth minute, St Fleur operated near the corner and found Delancy with a cross for the assist when he struck home a left-footed goal, his second of the match and a 2-0 lead.

The Bahamas built a 3-0 lead when McPhee scored in minute 40 as the first half came to a close. Troy Pinder’s cross was in place perfectly and McPhee delivered the diving header for a 3-0 lead.

Stevens Derilien had an early opportunity to score for TCI after a miscue on the clearance from Bahamian keeper Valin Bodie, but Bodie came up with the save to preserve the score at the half. The home side controlled the time of possession for much of the match. Offensively, they were able to knock the ball around and support off ball runs to attack efficiently.

Defensively, the Bahamas kept the pressure on the visitors and with the wing backs playing high, disrupted Turks early and often.

The Bahamas opened the second half, still first to the ball in every aspect, but an early goal was erased due to offsides penalty.

TCI had a goal of their own erased by a penalty call when Lenford Singh won possession against Bodie, and backheeled it, however, the infraction wiped away the goal and they remained scoreless.

The Bahamas capitalised moments later when St. Fleur blew by the defense to create another one on one with the keeper. He crossed to Delancey for another assist when he completed the hat trick and gave the Bahamas a 4-0 lead.

St. Fleur just missed scoring a goal of his own when his goal struck the left goal post.

The ball nearly hits a TCI defender and went in for an own goal, but it went just wide.

A goal kick from Turks was headed in the opposite direction by Alex Thompson to win possession, and Jamie Thompson, subbed into the game just over five minutes prior, capitalized to score his first international goal and give the Bahamas a 5-0 lead.

Turks ruined the Bahamas’ clean sheet when Marco Fenelus scored in the 80th minute to make the score 5-1. It was the first goal TCI has ever scored against

St. Fleur finally reached the scoresheet in the 87th minute and capped the game’s scoring when he released in behind the TCI defence and delivered a chip to TCI keeper for the game’s final 6-1 margin.

Prior to the match, team Bahamas trained in Jacksonville, Florida in a minicamp with Florida Elite Club.

Focus now shifts to CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying when team Bahamas travels to face Dominica on March 23.

The Bahamas opened Nations League play last September with a 4-0 loss on the road to Belize. They followed with a 6-0 loss to Antigua and Barbuda t home in October and a 1-1 draw with Anguilla in November.

CONCACAF Nations League is a new national team competition platform designed to maximise the quality, quantity, and frequency of competitive matches for all 41 CONCACAF member associations.

The league features competition for titles and performance prizes and will include promotion and relegation within the system of three leagues.

The Confederation’s teams will also contend via the League of Nations structure for the right to play in international championships such as the Gold Cup. Additionally, the League of Nations will inform a CONCACAF ranking system that will be used as the basis for future World Cup qualifying seeding.

“This is a watershed moment for CONCACAF. By focusing on football to provide all our teams with year-round, quality competition, the League of Nations platform means everyone wins,” said CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani. “This new tournament is highly beneficial to all our member associations and fans everywhere since it provides significant opportunities to play important competitive matches with increased regularity throughout the year.”