The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TEAM Bahamas successfully protected home pitch and won their third consecutive CONCACAF Nations League match.

In the back half of a home and away, the Bahamas once again blanked the British Virgin Islands 3-0 last night at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium.

Team Bahamas struck early when Isiah Collie scored in the ninth minute. Team captain Lesly St Fleur would tack on another score less than two minutes later for a 2-0 lead. Quinton Carey added the final goal for the home team in the 35th minute.

Just over a month ago, the Bahamas topped the BVI 4-0 on October 9 at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis.

St Fleur scored a pair of goals (37’, 49’), Happy Hall (55’) added the third and Carey (81’) scored the final goal late to cap the scoring.

The Bahamas is now 3-0 in League C, Group B. Bonaire previously defeated BVI 4-2. The Bahamas has defeated both teams after their 2-1 win over Bonaire at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium in September.

Group B play continues for the Bahamas when they travel to face Bonaire in the second game of a home and away on November 17. This was the fourth meeting between the two countries and the Bahamas has yet to lose a match with two wins and two draws, including 10 goals scored and three against. In 2008, both games finished with a 1-1 tie, followed by a 2-2 tie in World Cup qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. St Fleur, with four goals scored, is the Bahamas’ top goal scorer in games against British Virgin Islands.

The CONCACAF Nations League began with a one-off qualifying phase. Following 68 matches, the 34 participating teams where compiled into an aggregate table, ranking them 1-34.

The final standings of each team determined if they were placed into League A, B or C.

In the qualifying stage in the fall of 2018, the Bahamas began with a 4-0 loss to Belize, followed by a 6-0 loss to Antigua and Barbuda and concluded the year with a 1-1 draw with Anguilla. They concluded qualification with a 4-0 loss to Dominica.

The six teams that participated in the Hexagonal Round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Russia 2018 where pre-seeded directly into League A. The CONCACAF Nations League is a new centralised men’s national team competition representing a new era of national team football for CONCACAF member associations.

Through this new centralised competition, all 41 CONCACAF member associations participate in competitive international football year-round.