Anguilla 0

Bermuda 7

A rampant Bermuda thrashed Anguilla 7-0 last night to advance to the final round of the Caribbean Under-20 Championship.

Kyle Lightbourne’s team needed to beat their opponents by four goals to finish as one of the three best runners-up from the four first-round groups. Haiti, the host nation, topped group three after defeating Bermuda 3-0 on Friday night, and hammering Cayman Islands 5-0 in last night’s second game.

Cayman had two players sent off, but their win over Anguilla on Friday meant they finished third in the group.

Bermuda will now meet St Kitts and Nevis, host nation Curaçao and Antigua and Barbuda in the next round in October.

Jaz Ratteray-Smith, the Somerset Trojans forward, gave Bermuda the perfect start after scoring in the second minute with a tap in.

Paul Douglas, the Ilkeston midfielder, doubled Bermuda’s advantage in the twelfth minute before Ratteray-Smith grabbed his second after half an hour.

Bermuda continued to dominate against inferior opponents after the interval with Jahnazae Swan getting in on the act in the 54th minute, and Osagi Bascome converting from the penalty spot minutes later after Jahkari Furbert had been pulled down.

The goals kept on coming with Bermuda adding a sixth in the 85th minute through Ilkeston winger David Jones, before Furbert completed the rout in added time.

Lightbourne said he was satisfied his side had qualified but was far from happy with their sloppiness in possession.

“It was a game we should have won by a bigger margin,” Lightbourne said. “We’re through to the next round but I’m not happy — there’s a lot of work to be done.

“It was a hard game to watch and the opposition were not up to much. We wasted too many balls tonight. In Bermuda our players come up against opposition, we can deal with and the next round will pose a greater challenge.”

Lightbourne said it had been imperative for Bermuda to reach the next phase of the competition.

“If we are to keep growing as a country we have to stay in competitions like this,” he said. “We will take a month off and then buckle down because we will have to play a lot better in the next round.

“We can take some positives from qualifying, but in my eyes there’s a lot of work to be done.”

The group winners from the first round, which acts as the first phase of qualifying for the Under-20 World Cup, were Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Also qualifying as the three best runners-up alongside Bermuda were St Lucia and Cuba.

TEAM

Scorers: Bermuda (Ratteray-Smith 2, 30, Douglas 12, Swan 54, Bascome 56, Jones 85, Furbert 90)

Bermuda (3-4-3): J Hill — Z Bowen, T Harris, J Richardson-Martin — D Jones, J Furbert, L Evans, P Douglas — J Swan, J Ratteray-Smith, O Bascome. Substitutes: A Simmons, R Sampson, A Lewis, T Tyrell, N Rego, D Bell, C Neal