Barbados smashed six goals past the Bahamas in their Concacaf Nations League (CNL) League C finale on Tuesday evening at the Wildey Turf. It was a fitting end to this aspect of the brief campaign in the third tier of regional football for the Bajan Tridents, but coach Kent Hall is looking ahead to upcoming challenges.
Hall spoke to the fact that in spite of making a number of changes to the starting lineup throughout the course of the unbeaten four-game run in League C over the September and October windows, players were able to adapt. He noted also that the substitutes were not only ready to play their roles, but that the team is united in support of one another.
“We had everyone on the bench rooting for everyone on the field to score towards the end,” Hall disclosed. “And that to me is huge. Because as I keep saying, everyone wants to play. And it’s really disappointing when you don’t get the opportunity. So for players who didn’t get the opportunity to be on the bench cheering them on, and for players who were on the field and got subbed to be cheering them on like that, I think is testament to maybe the biggest ingredient, which is we have a team that’s pulling for one another.”
Hall observed that the team is improving steadily, but he is adamant that more can and must be done. Heaping praise on his staff and players, he nonetheless reiterated his annoyance that the Tridents conceded early against the Bahamas. Moving back up to League C, and looking forward to further challenges down the road, the former national midfielder told reporters that there will be less margin for error at the next level.
“Well we can’t make mistakes like those. You’ll get punished,” Hall stated flatly. “And it’s that much harder to score, right, and the teams at the higher levels understand how to manage games as well. And we have to understand the opportunities will be fewer, so we have to be more clinical. And the mistakes that you sometimes are able to cover up, you’re not going to be able to cover up for them.
“You don’t usually get second chances, you know. Like we made some mistakes tonight that we got away with. And we need to be able to recognise that those can really hurt us. So don’t gloss over them because the outcome wasn’t actually detrimental. And the details are things like, just, in certain moments making sure you’re putting in the effort to be in the right position. Because one yard to the left or the right can be the difference between you turning the ball over or not.
“And I think one of the biggest challenges that comes with that is when you start to build trust and belief in your teammates, you can drop your guard when you assume that someone’s got something covered. And you don’t give them the right kind of support. And then things can unravel. So that’s really the details that we’re talking about there.”
Hall’s men will next play Guyana in a two-legged play-in. The CNL play-in will qualify the aggregate score winner for the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup qualification tournament. Though the schedule is yet to be announced, games will take place during the November FIFA match window.
(TF)
