HAMILTON, Bermuda – National coach Kyle Lightbourne says his players “put in a great shift” and is confident Bermuda can build on a point from their goalless home draw against Haiti at the weekend when they head to Guyana for their next CONCACAF Nations League Group B fixture on Tuesday.
Haiti beat Bermuda 4-1 in a Gold Cup qualifier in Florida last July when the teams last met and Lightbourne said there were plenty of positives to take from Saturday night’s draw at the Flora Duffy Stadium against opponents 77 places above them in FIFA rankings.
Haiti twice struck the woodwork through Carnejy Antoine and substitute Steeven Saba while captain Nahki Wells and Kane Crichlow both spurned late chances for Bermuda.
“I would say we’re satisfied to have come away with a draw,” Lightbourne said.
“We haven’t played as a team in a while and I think that showed, particularly in the first half, but we definitely grew into the game and could have taken more than a point in the end.
“The game plan was always to deny Haiti space. They punished us in the past and we definitely learnt our lesson coming into this game.
“No doubt Haiti will feel they should have won the game and we rode our luck at times, with Dale [goalkeeper Eve] making some fantastic late saves, but I’m delighted. To come away with a clean sheet against the group favourites is great; the boys put in a great shift.
“There are a lot of positives to take away from this match. We’ve started with a good point and now we have to take that with us on the road in our next fixtures. We can’t get ahead of ourselves; it’s about knuckling down and going again against Guyana.”
After Guyana, Bermuda move on to the Dominican Republic where they will face Montserrat – who lost 2-1 to Guyana in their opener – on Saturday before returning home to face the same opponents in the reverse fixture.
Results of Nations League
LEAGUE A
Group A
In Paramaribo:
Suriname drew with Jamaica 1-1 (Half-time: 0-1)
SUR: Amal Knight 84th minute (own goal)
JAM: Junior Flemings 39th
Group D
In San Salvador:
El Salvador beat Grenada 3-1 (Half-time: 2-1)
SLV: Nelson Bonilla 2nd, 43rd, Arthur Paterson 55th (OG)
GRN: Alexander McQueen 4th
LEAGUE B
Group B
In Hamilton:
Bermuda drew with Haiti 0-0
In the Dominican Republic:
Guyana beat Montserrat 2-1 (Half-time: 0-1)
GUY: Omari Glasgow 61st, 71st
MSR: Adrian Clifton 21st
(CMC)