October 2011 Review: North America-Group 2

Standings



Game Results

Game 5-Guyana def. Barbados 2-0 in Bridgetown, Barbados on October 7, 2011

• Guyana Goals-Anthony Abrams (73'), Chris Nurse (87')

A pair of late goals saved Guyana in their first road game of qualifying as they picked up their 3rd win in as many games. Guyana struggled to get things going on the road but kept plugging in the offensive zone and had the game in hand once they scored their first. For Barbados, this was their 3rd consecutive goalless outing in qualifying.

Game 6-Bermuda def. Trinidad/Tobago 2-1 in Hamilton, Bermuda on October 7, 2011

• Bermuda Goals-Antwan Russell (52'), Nahki Wells (63')
• Trinidad/Tobago Goals-Kevin Molino (82')

Just like in last qualifying campaign, Bermuda has made itself a thorn in the side of a superior Trinidad team, picking up an upset at home and severely hindering Trinidad's odds of advancing. The game appeared over with 10 minutes remaining but Trinidad was able to cut the deficit in half and created havoc around the Bermuda goal for the remainder of the game but was unable to pick up a draw.

Game 7-Trinidad/Tobago def. Barbados 4-0 in Port of Spain, Trinidad/Tobago on October 11, 2011

• Trinidad/Tobago Goals-Lester Peltier (6', 55', 63'), Hughton Hector (90')

Lester Peltier led the way with a hat trick as Trinidad coasted to a win at home against Barbados. Trinidad's 4 goals matched their offensive output from their first 3 games and should give them a confidence boost after a devastating loss to Bermuda.

Game 8-Bermuda tied Guyana 1-1 in Hamilton, Bermuda on October 11, 2011

• Bermuda Goals-John Barry Nusum (71'), Ricky Shakes (81')

Bermuda continued their reign of terror against the top of this group, drawing with Guyana in a game they were minutes away from winning. Unfortunately for Bermuda, Ricky Shakes scored for Guyana late in the second half, giving Guyana a single point and eliminating Bermuda in the process. Had Bermuda won, they could have conceivably come back to win this group, but will instead be watching Round 3 from home.

Thoughts

Barbados-Eliminated and have zero goals to their credit in qualifying. Wasn't expected to challenge in this group and haven't managed to be a threat in any of their games so far. Has a pair of games remaining against Bermuda which gives them a chance to get some points from qualifying but Bermuda might be too tough a challenge for this team at this point.

Bermuda-Predicted they would have some success this month playing both games at home and sure enough, that was the case. Drawing Guyana hurts as it eliminated them but they can still emerge with a .500 record or better pending their November results against Barbados.

Guyana-Haven't lost a game in 4 qualifying matches yet but that has been against a pair of weaker teams and they haven't always looked impressive in knocking off those teams. They'll have a shot to advance to Round 3 and eliminated 2010 Round 4 participant Trinidad next month. A win in one of their 2 matches will be enough to achieve that milestone.

Trinidad/Tobago-It's yet to be seen what effect the Bermuda loss will have on their chances of advancement but it isn't helpful to say the least. Fortunately for them, Bermuda also prevented Guyana from taking full points in October so there is a shot for this team to make up the gap in points. Should be very evenly matched with Guyana in their upcoming series.

Going Forward

Bermuda and Barbados will meet for a pair of games with no effect on group advancement. Bermuda has a chance to actually climb to second place in the group while Barbados will need to win both games just to avoid finishing last in the group. Guyana and Trinidad will meet as well for a pair of games which will decide the group winner. Magic number to look for in those two games is 4. That is the number of points Trinidad needs to grab from the two games in order to advance to Round 3.

Post-October Standing Predictions Revisited:

Prediction:

Trinidad and Tobago-10 pts
Guyana-10 pts
x-Bermuda-2 pts
x-Barbados-0 pts

Actual:

Guyana-10 pts
Trinidad and Tobago-9 pts
x-Bermuda-4 pts
x-Barbados-0 pts

Bermuda wreaked even more chaos on the group then I suspected, defeating Trinidad outright before tying Guyana.