The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT wasn’t what former player turned coach Nesly Jean expected, but he was pleased that the men’s national soccer team drew 1-1 against St Vincent and the Grenadines in their CONCACAF Nations League match on Monday.

Team Bahamas went on the road to play their second game in four days after getting blanked 3-0 by Trinidad & Tobago in a home game on Friday at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. It was a rematch of their previous meeting on Friday, June 3, 2022 when Team Bahamas pulled off a 1-0 win at home at the TAR Stadium.

St Vincent and the Grenadines stuck first, scoring their only goal from Kyle Edwards in the 59th minute of the second half.

The Bahamas got the equaliser from Marcel Joseph in the 70th minute. The game was scoreless at the half.

“The performance wasn’t the best, to be honest. It was a really scrappy game as both teams were trying to avoid being in last place,” Jean said.

“It was an intense game back and forth, but it was very scrappy. That’s just how some of the games will end up anyway.”

With a little time to adjust after losing to Trinidad, Jean said they went into St Vincent and the Grenadines with a game plan, but it didn’t hold up.

“I don’t think that we played to the level that we should have played,” Jean said.

“We were down 1-0 in the second half, but we came back and scored and got the result that we needed for the country, so I’m pleased with it. We didn’t lose the game.”

The Bahamas moved to 1-4 with one draw for third place in Group C standings with two goals scored and 11 given up.

St Vincent & The Grenadines dropping to last place at 0-4 with two matches drawn after they scored five goals but gave up 14.

Nicaragua topped the list at 4-2 with 16 goals scored sand five given up. Trinidad & Tobago is in second with a 4-1 record with 12 goals scored and four given up.

With some players either injured or could not make the trip for one reason or the other, Jean said they had to take some replacements to St Vincent & the Grenadines and as it turned out, they were a little younger than the team that played against Trinidad.

“We will continue to train and improve the team,” Jean said.

“Hopefully we will be back in the summer when we will have some more of the guys who are in school, who couldn’t make it here for these two games.

“So we will try to improve the team and get more guys into the system so that they can compete for a spot on the team.”

The team will train during the summer and prepare for the next round in September. No date or venue has been released on those series of games, but Jean said looking back at Team Bahamas’ performances, there’s still a lot more work to be done.

“We have improved as a team. The guys are starting to understand what we are trying to do. They are buying into it,” said Jean about the coaching staff that includes assistant Kevin Davies.

“But because we are a young team, we have to make the mistakes so that we can continue to get better moving forward.”

Jean said he would like to see the players move forward and try to score more goals and one of the ways they can do that is communicating a lot more on the field.

“We’re a very quiet team,” Jean said. “Once we can communicate a little more, we will be able to play much better as a team.”

While the focus is to continue to develop the younger players, Jean said he will provide the opportunities for more of the veteran players to come back and make their contributions to the team.

“As long as I think you can make a contribution to the team, I will give you a chance,” Jean said.

“So we hope that if any of the older players feel they can contribute to the team we will invite them out to try out for a spot on the team.”

Other members of Team Bahamas in St Vincent and The Grenadines were Ian Lowe, Roen Davis, Lesly St Fleur, Pheron Wilson, Elijah Michell, Quinton Carey, William Bayles, Christopher Rahming, Omari Bain, Wood Julmis, Vance Wheaton, Troy Pinder, Ian Harris, Miguel Thompson, Deron Ferguson, Michael Massey, Nicholas Lopez and Jordin Wilson.