As we knew from the moment the draw was made, this is going to be a tough couple of weeks for Montserrat. Arguably the top team in each of the four Group B pots were drawn together, with Montserrat facing three recent Gold Cup qualifiers. These include Haiti, who took Mexico to extra time in a Gold Cup semi-final in 2019. I’m sure Willie Donachie would have wanted a bigger, and possibly younger, squad to get the team through these four games but, as ever, he has to work with what he has.
Tuesday’s defeat to Haiti means that the team really needs to get at least a couple of points from the two upcoming matches against Bermuda and there is a chance. Bermuda, like Montserrat, is also without a win from their opening two games.
A 3-2 defeat to Haiti is no disgrace, but the first ten minutes were pretty disastrous. You can’t make basic errors at this level of football, as Montserrat discovered in Florida last year, but they did it again. Haiti was two up within ten minutes, with both goals coming from errors. A missed header left Prunier unmarked for the first goal, and a stray pass set up Antoine for the second.
Haiti returned the favour by giving Montserrat a penalty in each half. The first was missed by Clifton but Strawbridge-Simon followed up for his first international goal, and the second was put away by Lyle Taylor in the dying minutes. The goal of the game was a spectacular volley from outside the area, struck by Saba, to make the game 3-1 at half time.
Lyle Taylor’s return to the side is welcome, and he made a big difference to Montserrat’s movement up front when he came on for the second half. There has been no explanation of why he was on the bench for both opening games, but given he is one of the top players in the Caribbean we can assume an injury. Brooks-Meade, one of the region’s top goalkeepers, also appears to be injured and may have left the camp, but there may not have been much he could have done to prevent Haiti’s goals.
It was good to see Brandon Barzey play a full half. He came on at half time and was always lively. He looks a useful addition to the squad. Maybe a start against Bermuda could mix things up a bit. Defeat for Montserrat could mean an uphill battle to avoid relegation to League C, but none of these four teams deserve that.
Craig Brewin’s Blog 