Antigua & Barbuda 1 Bermuda 1

Michael Findlay was left with mixed emotions after substitute Sachiel Ming’s first international goal rescued a point for Bermuda in their opening 2026 World Cup qualifier against Antigua & Barbuda.

Ming, an 84th-minute replacement for J'Nai Butterfield-Steede, scored six minutes after coming on to the pitch after Kane Crichlow did well to draw Antigua goalkeeper Nicholas Townsend off his line before picking out an unmarked Ming and the 18-year-old thumped the ball over the line at the second attempt.

In a game Bermuda dominated, the lack of a cutting edge again prevented them from picking up all three points, much to the disappointment of Findlay.

“There is a form of relief that we were at least able to graft a point out of the match,’’ Findlay said.

“At the same time, there’s great disappointment after dominating so much of the match and creating so many quality chances but not executing, which should have put us in a position where we left here with the three points.

“It’s a tale of two emotions, but we now have to focus on recovery, and regeneration and what strategy we’ll use to get prepared to play a very difficult team in Honduras on Sunday night.”

Despite the draw, Findlay was pleased that it was one of Bermuda’s young players who popped up with the late equaliser.

“We’re really excited by the fact that Sachiel has scored his first international goal for Bermuda,” Findlay said.

“Maybe that’s a sign of good things to come. I’m always optimistic and I want us to be positive about ourselves.

“That’s probably something to celebrate, that we brought a young player, an under-20 player from the last rotation of Under-20 World Cup qualifiers into the senior team.

“He’s come on as a substitute in the games that we played in March and now he’s done well and scored a goal. Let’s look at that as something that is going to be celebrated more in the future.”

While they dominated the match, Bermuda found themselves trailing after the home team found the target through Raheem Deterville in the 26th minute.

Bermuda were the better side throughout the match, with 64 per cent of ball possession and 23 shots.

“It’s a pretty simple problem in that we did not score goals and we did not execute on the opportunities that we created,’’ Findlay said.

“We created a number of quality opportunities, which in itself has to be seen as a positive.

“If we weren't creating chances then I would be even more upset and disappointed, but we did create. The frustrating part is that we didn't execute when we needed to, so we have to go away and understand how important it is to complete the task.

“That’s the lesson for the players from this match, but the one benefit is that we leave with a point.

“In this round of World Cup qualifiers, it’s very important to get as many points as possible because after next year it'll be the top two teams that go through to round three.

“Not getting points is a much more difficult situation to be involved in. We walk away disappointed and frustrated but looking forward to hopefully creating the same type of opportunities against Honduras.”

Having been in charge since August last year, Findlay had long identified goalscoring as an area of huge concern.

“It’s a pretty basic concept of football, you can’t win games unless you score goals,’’ he said.

“This is an area that we’ll continue to focus on. We’ll continue to create the best possible atmosphere around us and hopefully we just break through and it all comes together at some point.

“We have to benefit from the football that we’re playing and the chances that we seem to be creating. We just haven’t found the final act.”

Bermuda return home today, when they will continue preparations for their second match against Honduras at Flora Duffy Stadium on Sunday evening. Their opponents will have less time to prepare as they face Cuba at home today.

Defender Reece Jones Jr expected to be available after remaining in Bermuda to receive medical attention, and Findlay should have all the players up for selection against Honduras.

“Everyone seems to be in good condition,’’ Findlay added. “We’ll get a report in from medical and we’ll return back with everybody at least available for selection.

“Also Reece will return. He did not travel with us as he’s been getting treatment in Bermuda and he’s been cleared, so it looks like he’ll join us and we’ll have a full complement of 23 players.”

SCORERS

Antigua & Barbuda: Deterville 26

Bermuda: Ming 90

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-2-3-1): D Eve – J Butterfield-Steede (sub: Ming 84), D Leverock, H Twite, L Robinson – D Parfitt-Williams, K Crichlow – R Coddington (sub: Z Lewis 59), N Tucker, K Martin (sub: Lee 84) – K Hall (sub: J Bean 68). Substitutes not used: D Bell, A Kemp, C McDowall, D Swan-DeSilva, A Todd, R Robinson, K Scott. Booked: Robinson, Lewis, Ming

Antigua & Barbuda (4-1-4-1): N Townsend – Z Drew, V Allen, D Bowry, C Roberts – Q Griffith – R Deterville (sub: Harris 67), D Pereira, T Bramble, J Calvin (sub: J Parker 39) – D Bishop (sub: Tonge 67). Substitutes not used: J Martin, Z Scott, K Richards, S Philip, S Tomlinson, T Hughes, J Stevens. Booked: Parker

Referee: I Elfat (United States).