The Tribune

THE last time The Bahamas senior men’s national soccer team played the US Virgin Islands the contest ended in a 3-3 draw, but this time around the visiting team prevailed 3-1 in the opening match of the 2024 CONCACAF Nations League October window.

The ‘Junkanoo Boyz’ picked up their first victory in the group stage of League C, Group A on Saturday at the Barbados Football Association Technical Centre in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The Bahamas is currently in the second spot of the League C, Group A standings with a 1-1-1 win/draw/loss record and four points following the latest win.

Assistant coach Kevin Davies spoke about the efforts of Team Bahamas against the US Virgin Islands.

“We started off kind of slow because they changed their game plan from last game and they started to press high. Once we figured out their press, I think we took control of the game and were able to score three goals in the first half. 

“In the second half, we had a little spell where we kind of lost concentration for about 10 minutes but I think this time we were able to regroup. The guys were able to mentally tough it out. We had a lot of chances that I think we left on the field but at the end of the day we were able to sustain our composure and come out with the victory,” he said.

Brandon Adderley appears to have the golden boot for the ‘Junkanoo Boyz’ in CONCACAF Nations League play. 

The Bahamas got all three of their goals in the first half of the contest against the US Virgin Islands and Adderley was responsible for two of them.

He scored off a header that was assisted by Peter Julmis at the 13th minute of the matchup to put The Bahamas on the scoreboard first 1-0.

Ten minutes later Adderley would sink the ball to the back of the net for the second time. He launched a right footed shot from the right side of the box and sent it to the bottom left corner of the net to shift the score to 2-0.

The scoring frenzy continued as The Bahamas’ Omari Bain added a third goal to the total for his team. He dribbled past the USVI defenders and launched the ball from the penalty area to score a goal at the 30th minute of competition.

When the first half was all said and done, the ‘Junkanoo Boyz’ had a 3-0 cushion at halftime.

The USVI did not get on the scoreboard until the 69th minute of play. Hasani Edgar was on target from the right side of the six-yard box to change the score to 3-1.

The Bahamas will look to take this momentum into the next game against Barbados. 

The home team currently leads the League C, Group A standings with an undefeated 3-0-0 record and a total of 9 points. 

In their last matchup during the September window, the ‘Junkanoo Boyz’ were defeated 3-2 at the Bethlehem Soccer Complex in Christiansted, US Virgin Islands.

Coach Davies is anticipating confidence to play a big role for Team Bahamas in today’s matchup against Barbados. 

“Winning gives you confidence. Based on how we played the last time, I think the guys are still confident that we are able to compete with Barbados. We just need to work on one or two things over the next two days to just be able to compete at a higher level,” he said. 

Game two of the October window will begin at 8pm tonight.