GROS ISLET, Saint Lucia, (CMC) – Barbados and Cuba produced dominant displays to begin their CONCACAF Nations League campaigns on winning notes on Friday.
Competing in League B, Barbados defeated Saint Lucia 2-0, while Cuba thrashed Grenada 3-0 in a lopsided affair.
Meanwhile, Guadeloupe edged Bermuda 2-1, while St Kitts & Nevis triumphed over Bonaire by a similar margin.
Playing at the Daren Sammy Cricket ground, Barbados opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Thierry Gale converted from the penalty spot.
No other goals were scored for the remainder of the first half, but Saint Lucia pressed forward looking for the equaliser in the second half.
After soaking up the pressure, Barbados doubled their lead in the 73rd minute when Niall Reid-Stephen was played through with a beautiful ball, which he finished with a left-footed shot that flew past the advancing goalkeeper.
In the earlier match at the venue, Guadeloupe secured an excited come-from-behind win over Bermuda.
Enrique Russell gave Bermuda the lead in the 18th minute when he scored from the penalty spot, but his side was reduced to 10 players in the 64th minute after Jorj Dublin was shown a red card.
Six minutes from time, Guadeloupe leveled the score when Allan Vulgaire capitalized on a rebound to strike from inside the box.
With the match seemed headed for a draw, Djamalee Boisné tucked the ball away from close range in the 89th minute to secure the win for Guadeloupe.
Meanwhile, Cuba scored two late goals to get past Grenada at the NBG Technical Center in St Kitts.
They were fortunate to take the lead in the 19th minute through an own goal, before putting the contest to bed courtesy of stoppage time goals from Daniel Díaz and Didier Reinoso.
In the other match, a brace by Tiquanny Williams allowed St Kitts & Nevis to overcome Bonaire, who initially took the lead thanks to a strike from Berry Sonnenschein in the opening minutes.