Vincy Heat blows hot and cold

Vincy Heat’s advancement to the finals of the Digicel Caribbean Football Cup depended on the outcome of their match against the Bahamas last night at the Barbados National Stadium.

They were placed in a must win situation against the Bahamians and hoped that Barbados beat or drew with Bermuda.

But Technical Director Zoran Vranes speaking ahead of last night’s encounter was optimistic that his men will win.

“We must win, we have (a) good team, if we play the way we play(ed) Sunday, we can score six or seven”, he said.{{more}}

Those were the permutations that the Vincentians faced as they were the architects of their undoing, going under to Barbados 0-3 on Tuesday night.

A situation, which Vranes blamed on “ problems before (the) game.”

Without divulging much, Vranes said that it was a matter of “discipline of some players” but planned to give details of what transpired following the team’s return today, Friday.

A near full-strength Vincy Heat failed to reproduce last Sunday’s clinical second half display that earned them full points in a 3-0 defeat of Bermuda, in which Shandell Samuel had a brace and Marlon James scored the other.

Although Samuel was guilty of missing a couple early chances, he and his striking partner James, did not get the service from the midfield combination of Kendall Velox, Collingham Delves, Benford Joseph and Andrew Douglas.

This added pressure on the experienced back four of Wesley Charles, Dexter Walker, Ezra Hendrickson and Cornelius Huggins, who had to ward off the Barbadians.

Instead the 85th ranked team on FIFA’s October rankings never got their act together against Barbados at 100, who reports say were more purposeful and tactful.

Vincy Heat did not recover after Dyson James put a header in the net in the 16th minute after the Vincentians failed to clear from a long throw.

The host made it two in the 34th minute when captain Norman Forde hit a right foot shot past his opposite number Melvin Andrews in the Vincentian goal.

The Vincentians played most of the second half with ten men, following the ejection of Joseph for a second bookable offence.

Barbados extended their lead in the minute when English based Paul Ifill scored a 60th minute penalty, numbing the large Vincentian contingent of supporters, many of whom travelled from their homeland to combine with their compatriots living in Barbados.

This latest effort epitomized the roller coaster performance of Vincy Heat’s over the past months.

After losing 0-4 to Haiti in the preliminary round in September, Vincy Heat bounced back to shock the Caribbean knocking out the defending champion Jamaica 2-1on their home turf.

But the Vincentians soon had their ego deflated, when Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors beat them 5-0, in Port of Spain in a friendly international.

Their loss to Barbados extended the host’s tally of points to six and are certain of a place in the Finals slated for January 31 to February 11, 2007 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Barbadians opened with a 2-1 triumph over the Bahamas on Sunday night.

The Vincentians should have fancied their chances of qualification as runner up from Group G, as the Bahamas were languishing at the bottom without a point.

Bermuda beat the Bahamas 4-0 also on Tuesday in the first of the double header.

The other lifeline of qualification for the Vincentians was a play off with the other two third place teams from the other groups, if they docked in third.

But this seemed a remote possibility.