St Lucia bounce back, Barbados, Guadeloupe share spoils

GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC):

St Lucia recorded a convincing victory over Bermuda while Barbados and Guadeloupe played out a thrilling draw as League B action in the Concacaf Nations League continued on Monday.

The hosts bounced back from their opening-round defeat to Barbados with a 5-2 hammering of Bermuda, courtesy of a first-half hat-trick from Keegan Caull.

Caull found the back of the net in the 15th, 18th, and 35th minutes to give St Lucia a 3-0 lead before Ajani Burchall pulled one back for Bermuda in first-half stoppage time.

St Lucia then put the contest beyond doubt through goals from Shevon Bryan in the 53rd minute and Kurt Frederick in the 68th to extend their advantage to 5-1.

Bermuda managed a consolation goal through Riley Robinson in the 70th minute, but it was never enough for the visitors, who slumped to their second defeat in as many matches.

Meanwhile, Barbados remained top of Group B on goal difference after securing a 2-2 draw with Guadeloupe.

After a scoreless first half, Guadeloupe broke the deadlock four minutes after the restart when Djamalee Boisné finished at the far post from the left side of the box to beat goalkeeper Jamal Blackman.

Barbados responded strongly, scoring twice in the space of two minutes through star players Thierry Gale in the 76th minute and Niall Reid-Stephen in the 78th to take a 2-1 lead.

However, just when Barbados appeared on course for victory, Boisné struck again in the first minute of stoppage time, chipping Blackman from inside the area to earn Guadeloupe a share of the points.

In the night’s other result, Cuba defeated Bonaire 2-0 to move to the top of Group C.

Yasnier Matos put Cuba ahead in the third minute, breaking into the box with an individual run before slotting the ball into the bottom-right corner.

Cuba doubled their advantage in the 49th minute when Diego Catasus found the back of the net with a tidy first-time finish from inside the box.