Speedy Hornets amazes Russell

A disappointed Defence Force coach Ross Russell expressed his surprise at how well Dandy Town Hornets acquitted themselves against his side in Thursday’s 1-1 draw in their Caribbean Football Union Club Championship first-leg first round qualifier. The match was played at the Bermuda Athletic Association Field, Hamilton, Bermuda. Speaking after the match, Russell, a former T&T national goalkeeper said he was impressed by the speed at which Hornets moved the ball around and requested a DVD of the game to help him draw up a game plan for the crunch second-leg in T&T on Saturday at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, from 4 pm. “I was disappointed with a draw whether we were away from home or not,” said Russell.

“A draw is not a bad result away from home but I feel we could have done better. “I was surprised with the speed of (Hornets) actually. They moved the ball around well and gave us a good game. We’re hoping to get a copy of the tape so we can access the game. We can now access (Hornets) as well as we now know what they have. We will go home and do a bit of home work on them.” Despite being away from home, the T&T Pro League champions and two-time CFU Club winners started the tie as heavy favourites but found themselves trailing after 22 minutes admitting Russell to say  he was unhappy with the “ragged” defending in the first-half. “I thought our defence looked ragged at the start and we didn’t keep our shape well,” Ross said.

Looking ahead to the return-leg in T&T  Russell said he was confident of his side winning the on home soil to advance to the second round. “We’re always confident at home ... home is home,” he said. “I give (Hornets) credit with the way they played tonight but we’re always confident in front of our home fans.”
Hornets coach Jomar Wilkinson hailed his team’s character having given themselves a fighting chance in next weekend’s second leg in the Caribbean. “We showed a lot of character tonight and I’m delighted we’ve come away with a positive result,” he said. “I am very pleased with our performance.
“Football’s a funny sport and who knows what can happen down there next weekend.”