Islandsun Newspaper - British Virgin Islands

February 28 2003

St. Lucia's Earl Jean tries to get the ball from BVI captain Avondale Williams during Sunday's match

St. Lucia beats the BVI 1-0 in 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier
BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Titus Elva scored the game's lone goal in the 55th minute to give St. Lucia a 1-0 victory over the BVI on Sunday at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds, in the first leg of their FIFA 2006 World Cup qualifying series. The teams will meet in St. Lucia on March 28.

"It was a simple mistake that cost us the game," BVI coach Michael Tulloch said. "I feel that we should have won the game because we got enough chances to come out victorious in this game. Normally, St. Lucia would have over run us but we carried the fight to them, especially in the second half. We showed them that we are a team to be reckoned with and I give myself a fighting chance going into St. Lucia."

St. Lucia's coach Kingsley Armstrong said he thought they should have won by a wider margin. "I'm not taking anything away from the British Virgin Islands team. I think they were determined. They kept to the task and they had us working very hard for that victory," Armstrong noted. "We made a few mistakes especially in the attacking part on the field, but, you must give credit to the BVI."

On a throw in from the left corner in the 28th, St. Lucia's Sheldlon Emmanuel missed a header that went to the right of goal keeper Monty Butler. Emmanuel made another attempt from 25 yard out in the 38th, but the ball hit the right side of the goal post. St. Lucia continued its attack on the BVI when Jarvin Skeete missed his chance as the ball sailed right in the 42nd minute. St. Lucia came closest to scoring in the 43rd minute when Valencius Joseph's attempt from a penalty was blocked by Butler, as both teams settled for a scoreless half time after missing their chances. The BVI came out aggressive in the second half, but when St. Lucia got the ball Elva was able to beat Troy Williams then placed the ball to the right of Butler in the 55th for a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Elva fed Skeete a ball just outside the box but his header sailed to the right. On their next possession, Elva received a pass from Marcianno Cadet, but his header was blocked by Butler.

"The first half of play went exactly to plan. Unfortunately, we missed a number of chances where I thought we should have scored," Armstrong said. "We were able to come back in the second half and get one. Although we were under pressure in the second half, we were able to keep out nerves and defend out one goal lead."

Heading to St. Lucia for their next game, Tulloch said they will have to apply themselves more in terms of strategy. "Our defensive work at times was shoddy in terms on not marking properly, but with a little more physical work over the next two weeks, I feel we should be right there," Tulloch said. "Our finishing wasn't up to what I expected. We got chances that we should have kicked to goal and we didn't. I'm going to be working on getting the guys to kick at goal."

Armstrong promises a different game for the return leg on March 28. "We know what to expect from them now," he said. "We can see that they are a very physical team. They look very fit and they play hard. We will prepare to meet them. Hopefully, we can win by a wider margin."