Strong BVI performance at football tournament in St Barths
Some members of the BVI’s national football team. (Photo provided)
PRESS RELEASE: The BVI national football team defeated a very strong Barth’s national team by 4-3 in the Bath’s International Football Festival — a triangular tournament which included French St Martin.
The BVI had played the French the day before and drew 0-0 in a hard-fought game but they knew St Barth’s was a different opponent and would be difficult to defeat at home.
It must be said that this 2018 BVI squad – now with a new performance coach Mark Hooks –seemed destined for greatness in this tournament and beyond and would not allow St Barth’s to push them about.
The BVI – under manager John Reilly, along with coaches Dan Neville and Andy Davis – decided to invest in their youth and started with 17-year-old Tosh Gallimore in midfield, while 16-year-old Charles Medway retained his place in the starting 11 for this crucial and difficult game.
Also in the starting line-up were local lads Troy Ceasar and Trevor Peters up front in the striking positions and Jamie Wilson in midfield.
Our powerful defence included more local players with Josh Bertie on the left wing along with Phil Neson and James Drury.
As they had done all weekend the BVI started slowly again and St Barth’s took the lead through a long-range strike after 15 minutes of play.
This BVI team have shown great resilience in this tournament and started to come back into the game and created several chances before Jordan Johnson equalized after 30 minutes.
The game then became somewhat disjointed after a succession of fouls by the home side attempting to throw the BVI off their game, hoping to score more goals before the break.
As half-time approached St Barth’s got their wish and regained the lead through a controversial goal which had a hint of offside and a foul on goalkeeper Ben Chapman in the build up.
A lengthy stoppage time ensued while keeper Chapman received treatment from our medical staff.
Shortly after things went from bad to worse for the BVI – this after Carson Price was inexplicably sent off by the referee who was struggling to maintain control of the game.
The half-time whistle then went and BVI trailed 2-1 to the home side.
During the break the BVI coaching staff had time to analyse what was happening with their team realizing the mode of the home side and, the way the game was headed, introduced players – Kevin Fisher and Christian Xavier and shuffled the pack by moving several players to different positions.
The changes had an almost instant impact and Troy Ceaser equalized shortly after the restart.
The BVI continued to push, and as St Barths began to show signs of fatigue, further chances were created as the BVI dominated possession of the ball.
Against the run of play, St Barths regained the lead after a breakdown in the BVI’s right-wing defence.
The BVI, undeterred, continued to have most of the possession of the ball and their persistence paid off when Kevin Fisher grabbed the equaliser after an accurate Xavier pass.
With 10 minutes to go, and BVI camped inside the opponent’s half, made their last change, and brought on Bailey Rowe as an extra forward and sacrificed Medway to become a 3-4-2 formation.
The change proved to be a stroke of genius and immediately paid off as Rowe got straight into the mix and was heavily involved in the build-up to chances for Johnson and Fisher having attempts at goal.
Deep into injury time – it was Jamie Wilson, who arguably had the game of his life. He was probably MVP of the game and has been in tremendous form in the 2018 local league.
He was hacked making a driving run into the box and gave the local referee no option but to award a penalty to the BVI.
Jordan Johnson was cool and calm as he duly despatched the ball into the back of the net to secure another significant win for the BVI and not only brought a fitting end to a record-breaking tour, but more significantly brought the BVI back into winning ways.
Our National mens team can hold their heads high, havng played four games and lost none!
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When these coaches develop football in the BVI at beyond the elite standards and so enable us to beat the best teams in the world at all levels then I will rate them.
I’m not convinced at all by their passion and drive to carry BVI football to the highest heights.
Why is BVI national team looking so colonial era? Aren’t there good enough locals who can represent the Territory?
Congratulations to the team. Well done.
Great job! Very well done, shows so much progress! Ignore the ignorant comments, some people have no idea.
So where are they?
why the negative comments. i recognize 7 faces from the local leagues, far from the days of a whole team flown in !
How about we celebrate the victory?
They should never be flying in any non nationals ever, there’s talent in BVI but seem like the coaches only want their elite school players exposed .
Ignorant is what the comments would seem when you bask in mediocrity. I am happy for the team but you all have no idea about playing nor coaching at the highest standards. The Belgians created a plan, see link below
https://www.google.tt/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/jun/06/belgium-blueprint-gave-birth-golden-generation-world-cup-
Look at how they’ve progressed. Played against superior opposition not St Bartholomew or St Martin and revel in those kind of victories. So called High Performance Coaches should be looking to play friendlies against higher ranked teams worldwide and develop the country’s football from there but my comments are ignorant.
When have BVI qualified past at least the second hurdle of World Cup qualifiers?
It’s a sad day for the Territory of this is what you savour
Your comparison makes no sense, the Belgians have invested millions in their team over decades. We are now competing wth our neighbours and should be proud. Building a successful football team takes a long time, we are just starting from the grassroots and have a platform now.
That’s great if your just starting then there’s no excuse to not have BVIslanders on the team! Develop them now!
you really comparing the bvi to belgium? think you need a sense check
All we’re saying here is that we’d like to see more British Virgin Islanders being developed. Your focus doesn’t seem to be about OUR youth , more than 50% of the players should be from BVI to call it a BVI team.
@ well done. You’ve clearly missed the point. Have fun and savour your fantastic victory. Btw how long are you all trying to create a football program. I believe more than 10 years. A lot of “little countries” worldwide have built successful teams meaning that they can compete at the highest level and in a shorter space of time.
There’s no direction nor philosophy in BVI football so I don’t fathon how you dare comment and you are so out of the loop. I’ve heard certain foreign coaches who work and whom you all revere in the BVI, say that BVI children are not good enough and that they don’t think that they’ll ever be able to compete at the elite level.
You all have been taken for a ride by these “great foreign coaches” and I empathize as it seems that you all don’t interact with all aspects of the sport in depth. Why isn’t there local coaches who are at the elite level? No empowerment there at all.
Choose your battles you lot. Your comments are idle chaff which the wind drives away.
One cannot serve gourmet to a peasant.
Good day. I don’t understand how one could assume that my comments were meant as a comparison. The BVIFA has to establish a proper and effective National Development Program for youth from ages 4 to 18. When I mentioned Belgium it was to show what proper planning and preparation has accomplished. The Belgians used the Dutch Total Football philosophy and established their own. Can’t we do the same here and create one Common Philosophy? Also to show that we must aspire towards greater heights and stick to our guns.
We must establish Elite Pathways for Coaches with proper Education and Renumeration to motivate them.
For too long it has been one off euphoric moments like this but where is the real progress for BVI football? I’ve worked in football for a while worldwide and it’s sad to see others catching up and us in the Caribbean by extension are being left behind. We need to create our own heroes and stop being over awed by these hyped up foreign players. Our children must be properly developed so that when they encounter big teams eg Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, France, Belgium, Germany,Ivory Coast, Senegal, Japan, South Korea they must be empowered to defeat them with aplomb.
Our Vision and Mission should be a humble and awe inspiring one but not limited to competing with teams at our level of lower. Our aim should be to be the best in the world and it starts in the heart of every household in our glorious BVI.
Think on these things.
Agreed but they are not developing our bvi children. Look at the makeup of this team. There are BVI footballers at this age /level , seems like they’ve been left out! BVI kids won’t develop a passion for this sport if processes aren’t fair and inclusive. They should be absolutely sure to be training our boys, surely the effort being put towards this group of young men could be given to local players.
In sport you select your best team. The BVI team has had a mix of people whether born here or not. Some games/ years its more and sometimes less people born here. Just like any other national team including the World Cup winners. Plenty of opportunities exist for BVI players, referrees and coaches including FIFA and regional certification.
And here you go off on a tangent. Why do you assume that some of the white people are not born here? The racial hatred holds everyone back. It is not welcome. It is not useful.
Development money has always been squandered and pocketed by BVIslanders which is why only after the corruption scandal, in which some of our own were a part, did we get a proper pitch.
The rejuvenation is starting and what they are doing is a positive step forward. It is open to all and the BVI league is getting better slowly and more competitive. Hopefully there is a sustained plan and progress and in time we may see a BVI kid (no matter what his or her complexion) play for a top tier team.
No one made mention of complexion of the team. There are BVIslanders of all complexions yes BUT the majority on this team you boast of being BVI are NOT!! They are residents and some perhaps part time ones at most nowadays. That’s the problem!! Giving spots to those young men and not to ours!
Then people wonder why so many of our young men are going down the wrong path!
But which young BV Islanders, who are eligible to play (e.g. hold a BVI or British passport) are not included? If you watch the BVI national league, you will realise that there are very few eligible players who are of the required standard and with the drive to perform at the national team level.
This is the first time I’ve seen a thread of comments so long after a BVI football match. So a lot of enlightened people have finally come out to expose this facade that the BVIFA has created about the so called progress of football here.
Btw just recently, Weymouth FC beat BVI by 6-1 and no article was printed about that. We are not supposed to lose to a team close to the bottom tier of English football. The national team has talented players but they seemed uncomfortable with and without the ball at times.
Exactly. I was amazed also at the statement that there are plenty of opportunities for players referees and coaches. Those so called opportunities are for “certain people”. If so why are the High Performance Coaches at most levels foreigners? Is my sanity coming into question or am I a rabble rouser who just loves to pick a fight?
Thank goodness I’ve firsthand knowledge of the BVIFA runnings and other issues that plague the growth of sport in the BVI or I’d been a gullible idiot in all this tomfoolery.
The truth will set you free