(From Ras Abdalla  in Suriname with the compliments of; JW Potter Co (Guy) Ltd, Bryden and Bryden, Lens Craft Opticals and King of Kings)
PLAYING constructive and disciplined football Bermuda’s Under-20 humbled their Guyanese counterparts 3-0 in the opening match of the final CFU group qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. The game, played on artificial turf at the Franklyn Esssed Stadium in Paramaribo and witnessed by a handful of spectators, lacked the competitiveness that was anticipated after Guyana was reduced to ten, two minutes from halftime.
Bermuda took the lead after nine minutes when Casey Castle easily worked his way past left back Deshawn Joseph and central defender Ryan Crandon, to find an unmarked Dante Leverock who booted home from close range as the Guyana’s defence fell in disarray.
The Guyanese never looked in control and were deficient in their techniques and tactics and their insistence on playing the long searching ball proved their downfall.
In the 43rd minute defender Crandon, in an attempt to win a poor back pass by captain Colin Nelson, only succeeded in collecting his second yellow after he was compelled to foul Leverock just inside the Guyana half. Trinbagonian referee Lee Davis had earlier booked Crandon in the 30th minute for another dangerous foul play.
A minute from the half, coach Collie Hercules took out forward Sheldon Holder and brought on Mortimer Ramdehol to solidify the defence.
In the second period the Bermudans made full use of the one-man advantage and kept possession and played with patience whilst the Guyanese were seemingly frustrated and lacked purpose in their play.
As early as the 6th minute of the resumption Olvis Mitchell, with the Bermudan custodian at his mercy, shot tamely. In the 64th minute, second-half sunstitute, Dunte Albouy added his name to the score sheet as his feeble attempt from inside the box rolled into the Guyana goal with keeper Richie Richards going to his right and the ball to his left.
Five minutes later it was 3-0 as midfielder Troy Tucker blasted a right-booter from inside the area after Guyana’s midfielder Bevon Moseley was denied from close range by a fine save from Tajh-Michael Bell at the other end of the pitch.
Coach Hercules made two more changes, taking out midfielders Eon Alleyne and Brandon Beresford and replacing them with Telson McKinnon and Trayon Bobb, but Bermuda remained in control with confident ball possession.
Scottish Technical Director Derek Broadley, speaking with Chronicle Sport after Bermuda’s win, said that he was satisfied with his team’s performance and the result was most pleasing, “Obviously the sending off of a player will have a big impact on the game and I thought we used the extra man well. This is a fantastic start, one that we were anticipating and we are very pleased.”
His opposite, Hercules, in obvious disappointment, lamented the poor preparation of the team as a consequence of the under-par performance, citing fitness as the key factor.
“We had our moments in the game and those are what we can build on. It was disappointing that we conceded three goals since our preparation over the last two weeks was centred on defensive organisation. It is now more difficult for us to qualify, but we’ll give it our best in the next two games. In this game our lack of fitness really showed up.”
The former national striker also agreed that the artificial turf was a factor in the team’s performance, noting that the other teams have such facilities at home unlike Guyana.  He also complimented the Bermudans for playing very competitively.
Guyana will be in action again tomorrow night when they tackle the hosts at 19:00 h and before that Netherlands Antilles play Bermuda.