Bermuda 3 Anguilla 1

Bermuda bounced back in style in the Concacaf Men’s Under-17 Qualifier on Sunday night with a resounding victory over Anguilla.

Kennahz Fray scored twice for Bermuda to take his tournament tally to three, with captain Logan Jimenez also finding the target. Anguilla got a late consolation courtesy of an Amir Brangman own goal.

Coach Aaron Lugo, who made seven changes to the starting line-up after Bermuda’s heavy defeat to Curaçao on Friday, was pleased with the win which took his side to third in group A behind Canada, who beat Turks & Caicos 6-0 earlier in the day, and Curaçao.

“We’re proud of the result and the effort put in by the players,” Lugo told The Royal Gazette.

“The boys played really well by executing most of the things we have been working on since most of them came from overseas.

“The objective was to win but for that to happen they had to work together. Our instruction to the players was for them to move the ball and enjoy possession, get shots off and we accomplished all of that.

“We know we still have a negative goal difference and hopefully in the next match we can get more goals come our way to wipe out the deficit.”

Jimenez attributed Bermuda’s victory to playing with more confidence than they did in their opening match.

“I think we were calm on the ball and more composed,” the captain said.

“We passed the ball quicker and that’s how we scored our goals. It’s a great win for us, but obviously not enough as we are still on a minus goal difference.

“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half and we could have scored at least five goals, but we still got the three points so we feel good and look forward to our remaining matches.”

Bermuda dominated from the start with Harlem Bean-Fox shooting over the bar in the third minute. Three minutes later, Dakari Smith-Davis saw his effort go wide from a Bean-Fox pass.

in the fifteenth minute another Bean-Fox pass found Syhon Goater, who was denied by Shemor Browne, but Bermuda’s dominance finally paid off in the 23rd minute. A quick break resulted in Noah-George Outerbridge threading a pass to Fray, who rounded the Anguilla goalkeeper to score.

Nine minutes after opening the scoring Fray almost had a second but Browne made a good save.

Anguilla’s best chance came seven minutes before the break when Kijel Ribon hit the post before Fray almost immediately had a powerful strike punched back into play by Browne before Blayz Borgesson sent the rebound over the bar.

Bermuda bought themeslves some breathing space in added time at the end of the first half when Outerbridge provided another assist for Jimenez to place the ball inside Browne's far post.

Bermuda continued to dominate in the second half and Fray netted Bermuda’s third in the 53rd minute with a header from a Bean-Fox pass after Anguilla failed to deal with a corner.

Just when Bermuda looked as if they were going to keep a clean sheet, Brangman turned the ball into his own net in the 90th minute.

Substitute Na'im Zuill twice came close to scoring for Bermuda in stoppage time. The Bolton Wanderers forward rattled the crossbar with a free kick before he had another set piece saved by Browne.

Bermuda have just one goalkeeper for the remainder of the tournament after Jahneel Maria was ruled out through injury. The PHC keeper was substituted in the 66th minute against Curaçao and was on crutches with his right leg in a boot on Sunday.

Maria is the second goalkeeper Bermuda have lost after Caleb Grant suffered a knee injury before the start of the tournament.

“Unfortunately, he is out for the rest of the tournament,” Lugo said.

“But he’s done his part and is still with the team. We can’t bring in another player that is not on the master list that we have, and I don’t have any more keepers on that list.”

SCORERS

Bermuda: K Fray 23, 53, L Jimenez 45+1

Anguilla: A Brangman og 90

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-3-3): C Jackson – L Jimenez, E Peets (sub: D Coddington, 62), G Reece, D Smith-Davis – S Goater (sub: N Zuill, 62), D Leverock (sub: A Brangman, 62), B Borgesson (sub: S Carolo, 85) – N Outerbridge (sub: T Steede, 62), K Fray, H Bean-Fox. Substitutes not used: I Gibbons, K Brunson, R Williams. Booked: Zuill.

Anguilla (4-2-3-1): S Browne – T Leveret, T Connor, N Owen (sub: K Belle, 46), J Gayle (sub: T Anderson, 81) – M Connor, N Millington – K Robin (sub: K Herbert, 81), A Charles, K Gumbs (sub: J Hodge, 88) – T Jackson (sub: R Martin, 68). Substitutes not used: A Service, C Julius, J Gumbs, R Josiah-Lind, A Rogers. Booked: Jackson, Connor.

Referee: J Ramprashad (Guyana).