Vincy Heat defeats Guadeloupe

Vincy Heat broke its winless run with a 2-1 win over Guadeloupe last week Friday night in the French territory’s capital Point-a-Pitre.{{more}}

The emerging Emerald George, who favours his left foot, scored directly from a corner, and an own goal scored by a Guadeloupean defender gave St. Vincent and the Grenadines its first international win in one year and 45 days. Guadeloupe scored its consolation goal in the second half.

But it was a welcome win for new Technical Director/Head Coach Stewart John Hall, who was obviously pleased with the win, but not happy overall.

“I’m pleased that we won, but I’m not totally happy”, Hall said minutes after the team returned home last Sunday night.

“We played well in the first half, but we did not play well in the second half, but we defended well”, Hall told SEARCHLIGHT.

“We used a different system, the 4-4-2 , in a slightly different way; we are experimenting”, Hall remarked.

Seeing some of the players for the first time, Hall said he deliberately used Shandell Samuel, Cornelius Stewart, Melvin Andrews and Shawn Benjamin in Friday’s match so he could get the opportunity to view all the players who are interested in representing St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Samuel and Stewart are returning from injuries, while Benjamin is based in the UK, working in the military services there. Andrews, a goalkeeper, who returned to national duties after a self imposed sabbatical, is among the most capped Vincentian footballers.

“I’ve got to see as many players as possible so we can get the best team, so I would be changing the team every game”, a blunt Hall stated.

He is hopeful that Sean Glynn and Marian Grant, both playing semi professionally in Jamaica, would be here for Vincy Heat’s meeting with Barbados on Sunday at the Victoria Park.

With his eyes truly focussed on Canada in June in the World Cup Qualifiers, Hall confessed: “We have a lot of work to do; we have a lot of work to do on our fitness, as well as our mental level”.

The streak without a win started last year January at the Digicel Caribbean Cup Finals when St. Vincent and the Grenadines lost to Cuba 3-1, and was beaten 1-0 by Guadeloupe.

The losing streak continued when as a late replacement for Cuba in the Digicel Shield last May in Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines sporting mainly members of its Under-23 squad lost 8-7 to Mexico’s Under-23 on penalties after both sides were locked 0-0 at the end of regulation time. This was followed by a 3-0 defeat by Haiti, in the third place play off.

In January of this year, Vincy Heat lost to Guyana in Georgetown, 1-0, but returned to hold the Guyanese 2-2 here on home soil, and in February lost to Grenada 2-1, also here at the Victoria Park.

Prior to last week Friday’s win against Guadeloupe, the senior team last tasted victory when they triumphed over Guyana in the Digicel Finals January 14, 2007, in Trinidad and Tobago.