The Montserrat Reporter

The win – Montserrat 2 – Cayman Islands 1.

So this is where we were taken from – FB – Craig Brewin

The eight other teams in contention for the last four qualifying places are St Kitts & Nevis, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Bermuda (who play each other), Guyana & Belize (who also play each other), and French Guiana. To add some spice to the final round of matches, and some unpredictability, CONCACAF has arranged things to ensure that each team plays someone of a similar ranking. This is also the final round of qualifying for next season Nations League groupings so everyone has something to play for.

The following is how the weekend needs to pan out for Montserrat.

Day 1: Friday 22nd March. Cayman Islands v Montserrat.

Montserrat has to win. A big win may help. Montserrat is now ahead of Cayman Islands in the FIFA rankings and given its form so far, a win for Montserrat is possibly the more likely option.

Day 2: Saturday 23rd March. Guyana v Belize. Surinam v St Kitts &Nevis.

Either Guyana or Belize will almost certainly finish above Montserrat if they win. St Kitts will finish above Montserrat if they win.

Day 2: Saturday 23rd March. El Salvador v Jamaica.

Kicking off after the two earlier games have finished, El Salvador needs a win against a Jamaica team looking to qualify for League A in the Nations League. It is possible that a big win in the Cayman Islands could see Montserrat stay ahead of El Salvador on goal difference.

Day 3: Sunday 25th.  Dominican Republic v Bermuda.

This game is sudden death, with the winners virtually guaranteed to finish ahead of Montserrat.

Day 3: Sunday 25th. Canada v French Guiana.

This match kicks off at the same time as the game in the Dominican Republic. Montserrat will need French Guiana to lose or draw. It has a good team but was beaten 4-2 by Canada when they met in the 2017 Gold Cup.

Day 3: Sunday 25th. Barbados v Nicaragua. A win for Nicaragua will see them finish ahead of Montserrat. Unless French Guiana, St Kitts and Nevis, and El Salvador have failed to win, it will probably all be down to this game. Montserrat will need Nicaragua to fail to win.

Of course, if Montserrat doesn’t beat Cayman Islands then none of this will matter. Not in terms of the Gold Cup anyway. But there is still next season’s Nations League.

Football Players with roots on a Caribbean island have helped transform its football fortunes and put a Gold Cup in reach

Nick Ames @NickAmes82

Left to right: Montserrat’s Adrian Clifton, Dean Mason, James Comley, Sol Henry, Brandon Comley and Bradley Woods-Garness, pictured in north London. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

“You’d literally be playing out here and getting scraped up off the floor.” Bradley Woods-Garness is standing a few yards from one of the north London pitches that, when he was a youngster, tested mettle as much as skill. The five-a-side surface at Elthorne Park is now made of artificial turf, a far cry from the concrete that would shudder the bones of the Corinthian-Casuals forward and those who joined him. “There’d be scars all over your knees,” he says. “But we loved it.”

It is a chilly Sunday morning and, just behind him, a new generation is going through its own rite of footballing passage. Woods-Garness has returned with five of his oldest friends, all of whom cut their teeth in uncompromising surroundings here and at other venues around Islington. Each of them still lives locally. They could never have imagined it but all of them are international footballers now, playing for the same side, and they stand on the verge of something extraordinary.

If Montserrat defeat Cayman Islands in the early hours of Saturday then, with favourable results elsewhere, the tiny Caribbean island’s team will qualify for their first Concacaf Gold Cup. They are ranked 200th in the world but a core of players who grew up a few streets apart have helped turn their fortunes round.

Recruitment for the national team always leant upon word of mouth. Thousands of Montserratians relocated to the UK during the 20th century, Windrush arrivals followed by those who were displaced by the Soufrière Hills volcano’s catastrophic eruption between 1995 and 1997. The side was mainly staffed by their descendants, usually England-born and playing on the non-league circuit. That has not changed much but the way things fell into place for the current crop makes remarkable listening.

“I literally started asking everyone I knew who played football at any level: ‘Do you have any Montserrat in you?’” Dean Mason is among three of the group who play for the National League side Maidenhead United. He began representing Montserrat in 2012 – qualifying through his paternal grandmother, a Windrush settler – after striking up a friendship with the now Sweden-based player Alex Dyer; he and Woods-Garness were teammates at Canvey Island then and, en route to a match, he mentioned his call-up. “I’m from Montserrat too,” Woods-Garness replied. When their mutual astonishment had subsided, they set to work on signing him up with the British protectorate’s FA.

The pair discovered a squad accustomed to crushing defeats and sought to strengthen it. No stone was left unturned: social media were scoured, friends of friends petitioned. Sol Henry, a veteran of the local non-league scene and friend from those bruising kickabouts, was enlisted during a night of tenpin bowling in 2014 and found himself flying to a Caribbean Cup tie against the US Virgin Islands within days.

Adrian Clifton says he saw an Instagram post showing his companions on a beach and thought: “What’s going on?” He would make his debut in March 2015, during a World Cup qualifier with Curaçao. James Comley, who completes the Maidenhead contingent with Clifton, had believed his grandfather hailed from St Lucia but, after casually telling his father that Mason and company were travelling with Montserrat, was amazed to be put straight. He would also begin against Curaçao. Last year Comley’s younger brother Brandon, the Colchester United midfielder, also won his first cap. Quick guide

The men making history for Montserrat

The deep-set bond between all six is clear: the ribbing and in-jokes barely let up but there is a tenderness, a sensitivity, about their interactions too. None of them envisaged this during those days taking kicks on the gravel. Mason saw the new-look team take shape and began to think: “We can definitely do something here.” A much-improved Montserrat ran Curaçao – a formidable side packed with talent from the Dutch leagues – close in that tie; it was a precursor of what they have achieved since but none of them knew, at the time, that the team would not play again for three and a half years.

“People forgot about us,” Mason says. “It was horrible. We stuck together and kept a WhatsApp group going but I felt it was just turning into a whole lot of sarcastic comments. It was like: ‘We’re never going to play together again so we might as well meet up and go to Topgolf.’”

They now understand we’re not here for money and just want to give something back Bradley Woods-Garness

Their adventure appeared to be over as soon as it had started. Montserrat had contested only 34 games since first playing in 1991, in any case; the resources for regular fixtures beyond World Cup ties were just not there. But Concacaf’s creation of a Uefa-style Nations League transformed everything. Now each team was guaranteed meaningful competition and money to stage it. The top 10 of a 34-team table will join sides such as the USA and Mexico at this summer’s Gold Cup. Montserrat came within seconds of a draw with El Salvador last September; they subsequently beat Belize and Aruba. It creates an opportunity on Grand Cayman that would have seemed impossible in 2002, when they lost 4-0 to Bhutan in the “Other World Cup final” between the globe’s two lowest-ranked teams. Advertisement

Overseeing Montserrat’s resurgence is Willie Donachie, the former Scotland international and assistant to Joe Royle at various clubs, who became manager last year. James Comley describes him affectionately as “like a Buddha”; the players admire his serenity and man-management, also appreciating how he allows a necessarily self-sufficient bunch their say on tactics. Donachie quickly understood their closeness and, in several cases, grounding at top-flight academies could be harnessed effectively.

Only 5,000 people live on Montserrat and, at first, the newcomers detected some suspicion. “They now understand we’re not here for money and just want to give something back,” Woods-Garness says. “We are winning games has returned taking to us and enjoying what we do. They can stand up and say: ‘Yeah, you can’t beat our island!”

The process of connecting their roots has been difficult but important. “Every time my grandad talks about home he always says: ‘Where I’m from in Montserrat ain’t there no more,’” Clifton says. “It’s always been an uncomfortable conversation. So to go there and see what he actually meant with my own eyes, half the island literally empty, one side green, one side ash …” He trails off and the group swap memories of the tours they received, taking in the island’s exclusion zone, upon visiting for the first time. After understanding the devastation that had been wreaked, there was no mistaking what they had committed to.

The hope is others will follow. “We’re just kicking this off,” Clifton says. “It’s only going to get bigger; there’s going to be better players than us coming through.” Montserrat can now afford their own talent detection; the days of scouting for teammates are gone. Lyle Taylor, the Charlton forward, is their highest-profile player but a number of Premier League clubs are producing footballers of Montserratian ancestry and there is optimism that, with continued progress, the temptation to hold out for a call from England will be reduced.

By the time they sign up, the boys from those neighbourhoods around Elthorne Park may have completed their fairytale. “We’ve created a fear and other teams respect us,” Clifton says. Montserrat must justify a rare “favourites” tag with three points against the Cayman Islands and hope three other results go their way. The permutations are complex but it is not far-fetched. Finishing the job would crown a tale worthy of a film script.

“I don’t think anybody could believe something like this was possible,” Woods-Garness says. “I don’t think they could believe that five, six, seven people from the same area can grow up together and go on to play international football, and be on the verge of making something as big as the Gold Cup. It’s phenomenal.”

What it means to play international football for Montserrat

By Craig Brewin

The world is starting to sit up and take notice of the Montserrat Football Team, with regular features starting to appear in World Soccer Magazine, social media, and the national press in

the UK.  Its achievements are drawing comparison’s with Jack Charlton’s Irish side who, 25 years ago, made it to the World Cup quarter finals in the USA with a team made up primarily of players born to, and in one case adopted by, Irish parents and grandparents. For Montserrat the USA also beckons, with qualification for the 2019 Gold Cup (the International Tournament for North and Central America and the Caribbean) a distinct possibility.   Coincidently, Montserrat’s final decisive game of qualifying is 22^nd March, a few days after St Patricks Day.

Montserrat’s unexpected charge to the finals is being helped by a number of factors: A one-off free for all qualifying tournament designed to facilitate the creation of the new Concacaf Nations League,  and an expansion of the Gold Cup Finals to 16 teams. They also have a very experienced coach, Willie Donachie, who has coached in the Premier League and been to two World Cups with Scotland. Whether or not the team makes it the USA, the journey has been an experience, with the players clearly relishing the competition. They have already qualified for League B in the New Nations League, which gives them another, but more difficult, chance to qualify for the Gold Cup in two year’s time.

So what does it mean to be an English born Montserrat international? It is clear from reading their interviews and tweets that it means a lot. They are a close group of players. Being a small group, they have known each other for a few years now, and their common Montserratian heritage is something they are proud of.

Brandon Comely said after the El Salvador game: ”it was the first time that I’ve lined up in a game with my brother and going to play for a country that’s in our blood was a proud moment. “Spencer Weir-Daley said: “Playing for your country is one of the best honours in football”  and that the team was honoured to be “representing their parents and grandparents”.

Adrian Clifton has said that “not many footballers get an international call up even those in the Premier League. As a footballer it is one of the proudest things you can do, whether it is playing for a big country or a small island everyone wants to play for their country. With my family coming from Montserrat I’ve got massive support there.” After the Belize game he tweeted: “the phone call I just got from my grandad actually made me cry”.

Captain Lyle Taylor has said “Very few players get the chance to play for their countries, whether it’s the county where they were born or whatever. There was no way I was going to turn that down.” It’s the “chance to represent the country my dad’s side of the family come from”. After his first call up he said: “I can’t wait to show my grandparents the videos and pictures, just to hear about how different things were when they lived there”

Taylor has also spoken about meeting an Uncle “Beep-Beep” who he never knew he had, and Dean Mason has said: “I felt more of a connection with my Grandmother when I went there. It’s a really nice feeling to play for my country and to make her proud. When you meet the locals, they explain to you what they went through with the volcano”.

Whatever the outcome of this season, the achievements over the past few months have shown that the team is far better than their lowly seeding recognised. Donanchie’s assistant, former Everton physio Mick Rathbone, described the win over Belize as the best team performance he had seen in his whole life.

They have to win their last game, and they need their rivals to lose, but they are optimistic of making it to the USA. Joey Taylor said Montserrat “rattled” Belize, and El Salvador struggled to “cope”. “We have a real chance of qualifying” said Weir-Daley, with Dean Mason being more forthright: “Bro, it’s happening, I can feel it in my bones”. “We will show the world what Montserrat are capable of,” said Messiah McDonald, “we are coming for the Gold Cup.”

Craig Brewin writes a ‘blog’ (Living on the Island of Montserrat Montserrat’s only ironically meta blog covering football, human rights and shopping)

The following is taken from a  ‘blog’ (Living on the Island of Montserrat Montserrat’s only ironically meta blog covering football, human rights and shopping) that we were introduced to by pure coincidence as a result of the clip of the final score in Aruba just a bit earlier.

“So, can Montserrat win? Can Aruba go all the way to the Gold Cup? It’s really hard to predict. Neither side has qualified for even a Caribbean Cup before, but a win for one of them puts them on the brink of immortality. Both sides are well organised and can keep possession. Aruba has committed the most fouls in the tournament so far and has had only 9 shots at goal. Don’t expect a classic, don’t expect a goal fest. But for the winner, there will be a long agonising wait for the final decisive match of the tournament…”

So, Montserrat won!

Antigua & Barbuda ended the tournament with a dominant 136 run victory over Monserrat to finish the tournament in second place.

It was a rain affected day’s play which ended the match prematurely late on the last day of the tournament when the only fixture for the day was between Antigua and Montserrat at Little Bay.

Antigua & Barbuda with a hard-hitting innings which was interrupted when skipper Rahkeem Cornwall limped off the field with a leg injury to return at the fall of the ninth wicket and scoring 118 runs. Antigua & Barbuda amassed 245 runs from 47 overs, losing 9 wickets. 

Kahreem Cornwal about to hit another towering 6

Cornwall’s belligerent unbeaten knock came off of 80 deliveries and included 7 fours and 10 sixes. He was supported by small contributions from Jamaul Fernandez (26) and Orlando Peters (24).

Like the day before Montserrat fumbled badly after capturing the A & B first 3 wickets under 10 runs. After a partnership between Fernandez and Peters they captured 4 more wickets before A & B posted 100.

The slow left-arm bowler dapper Zawandi White captured 4 wickets for 38 runs for Montserrat while Damion Williams took 2 for 60 from 9 overs.

In reply, Montserrat limped to 97 for the loss of 7 wickets chasing a revised target of 233 runs, when the rains poured down and invoking the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method strongly in favour of the overpowering Antigua position.

Deno Baker scored an unbeaten 26 runs to lead the batting while Jaison Petrs scored 24 runs. Bowling for Antigua, Kofi James ended with 2 wickets for 16 runs from 9 overs and Jamaul Fernandez took 2 for 20 from 8 overs.

Final standings

Download (PDF, 35KB)

Nevis wins its first encounter in LICB 50 Overs Tournament

Montserrat 2018 50 Overs team

Anguilla 2018 50 Overs team

On Monday, September 23 at the Little Bay, Montserrat fixture in the LICB 50 Overs tournament, Nevis won its final match of five encounter defeating Sint Maarten by 6 wickets to record its first victory of the tournament.

Jamie Cornelius’ unbeaten 55 spearheaded the win receiving support from skipper Adelvin Phillip, Nevis chasing down a revised total of 154 due to rain delays. Nevis reached the total in the 35^th over. completed the victory with relative ease. Daniel Doram picked up 2 wickets for 17 runs from 8 overs for Sint Maarten.

Batting first, Sint Maarten reached 163 for 9 off of 45 overs while opener Sherwin Peters top-scored with 34 runs.

Bowling for Nevis, Jamie Cornelius took 3 wickets for 30 runs from 9 overs while Joseph Williams took 3 for 28 from 8 overs.

For his all-round effort, Jamie Cornelius was awarded the Man-of-the-Match award.

Montserrat stumbles to defeat by Anguilla

Montserrat 2018 50 Overs team

After a strong bowling start, Montserrat allowed Anguilla from 114 for 7 to post a score of 210. But it was nail biting finish that gave Anguilla their second win of the tournament, Montserrat needing 8 runs in the final over falling short by 3.

 Opener Montcin Hodge led the way with 54 runs off 60 deliveries and lower order batsman Yannick Leonard scored 51 runs off 67 balls before he was run out in the 48^th over. Bowling for Montserrat, Deno Baker took 3 wickets for 27 runs and Damion Jacobs took 3 wickets for 29 runs, each bowling bowling 10 overs.

Montserrat received solid knocks of 48 from Jaison Peters and 47 from Shavin Tuitt earlier in the chase with Jemuel Cabey contributing a 33 ball 32 in the lower order but the overs ran out as they tried to score 8 runs from the last over, only managing 5 runs, ending on 207 for the loss of 8 wickets.

Bowling for Anguilla, Chesney Hughes grabbed 4 wickets for 38 runs from 8 overs while Yannick Leonard took 3 for 28 from 10 overs.

Man-of-the-Match was Yannick Leonard for his all-round performance.

Adapted from LICB: Vincie Bowen’s report

September 19, 2018 – Salem Park Montserrat

Watch https://www.facebook.com/Liveislands/

for Live streaming at Little Bay Friday, Sept 21.

Orlando Peters’ 98 ball 75 helped pilot Antigua and Barbuda to the winning total of 244 all out and secure a 28 run victory against Anguilla.

After being asked to bat by Anguilla who won the toss, Antigua and Barbuda started shakily, immediately losing the wicket of Kofi James in the first over to Kelbert Walters for a duck. However the innings continued briskly until the end of the eleventh over when Damien Lowenfield was run out for 20 runs after a 62 run partnership with Karima Gore. The wickets of Gore (40 runs) and Rahkeem Cornwall (1) followed before a 99 run partnership between Orlando Peters and Shane Burton (28) consolidated the innings. Burton’s 44 ball knock came to an end in the 37^th over when he was bowled by Yannick Leonard and was followed immediately after by Peters in the next over. Useful knocks by Kenrick Scott, 25 from 26 balls and an unbeaten 19 by Shavon Moore from 16 balls helped to propel the score to 244 all out in 47 overs.

Bowling for Anguilla, Walters ended with 2 wickets for 32 runs from 7 overs, Leonard had 2 for 47 from 10 overs and Chesney Hughes 2 for 48 from 9 overs.

Anguilla started steadily in its reply before losing their first wicket in the ninth over when Montcin Hodge was stumped by Michael Haynes-Dover for 15 runs off 31 balls. After that, Anguilla lost wickets steadily around the batting of Deon Burton who scored an unbeaten 48 ball 50 before Anguilla was bowled out for 212 in 47 overs.

Antigua began looking shaky; and with just over 3 overs (18 balls) to go and needing 32, the way Anguilla was batting must have caused some jitters, but for a careless run out, the match dwindled to an eventual easy win.

Asharn Hodge contributed 28 runs from 53 balls and Jadell Richardson contributed a 30 ball 21 in support of Burton’s efforts.

Nino Henry took 3 wickets for 53 runs from 9 overs, Gore took 2 for 16 from 7 overs and Kofi James’ 9 overs conceeded 27 runs while taking 2 wickets.

Peters’ efforts earned him the Man-of-the-Match – Little Bay

Montserrat also had a scare at Little Bay, where Jaison Peters’ with an unbeaten 71 helped steer Montserrat to victory over Nevis by 3 wickets in a somewhat close encounter.

Chasing 167 for victory, Montserrat started shakily at 15 runs for the loss of 2 wickets (Joshua Grant and captain Shernyl Burns) by the fifth over, both batsmen bowled by Nelson Boland. Peters joined Shawin Tuitt to feature in a 62 run partnership in 59 balls before Tuitt was stumped by Jason Campbell for a 37 ball 38. Wickets fell steadily thereafter taking the score to 88 for the loss of 6 wickets before a needed 38 run partnership between Peters and Damion Jacobs (20 form 45 balls), staved off another sccare. McPherson Meade then joined Peters, needing 41 runs with 18.3 overs (111 balls) to take Montserrat to victory in the 46^th of 50 overs (28 balls to spare).

Boland took 2 overs for 31 runs form his 10 over allotment and was assisted by Jason Campbell’s 2 for 28 from 10 overs and Tonito Willet’s 2 for 22 form 4.2 overs.

Earlier, Nevis reached 166 runs in 44.4 overs with the main contribution coming from Tonito Willet who scored 49 runs off 78 deliveries. Adelvin Phillip scored 30 runs in support of Willet.

The two Damions led the bowling for Montserrat.  Willams took 3 wickets for 35 runs from 7.4 overs while Jacobs took 3 wickets for 31 runs; while Quinton Boatswain took 2 wickets for 23 runs from 7 overs.

Peters’ heroic knock earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

The score cards –

Download (PDF, 71KB)

Antigua vs Anguilla 2018-09-20 at Salem Park

Sept 19, 2018 – Salem Park Montserrat

After a late start due to a wet pitch from overnight rains, Antigua and Barbuda won the toss and elected to field against Nevis in a match reduced to 25 overs. After a brisk start, the initial breakthrough came in the fourth over with the score on 28 when Jamie Cornelius was caught by Kofi James off the bowling of seamer Stanny Simon for 22 runs from 12 balls. Nino Henry followed in the next over with the wicket of Ross Powell, LBW for 5 runs. Nevis were 30 for the loss of 2 wickets. However, looking to build quick runs in the reduced format, the Nevis lost wickets steadily before closing the innings at 134 for the loss of 9 wickets from the allotted 25 overs. Top-scorer for the innings was middle order batsman Adelvin Phillip who scored an unbeaten 40 runs from 38 balls which included 5 fours and a six.

Bowling for Antigua and Barbuda, Orlando Peters picked up 3 wickets for 36 runs from his 5 over allotment while Rahkeem “Jimbo” Cornwall picked up 2 wickets for a miserly 14 runs from his 5 overs. Nino Henry was alos very econimical grabbing a wicket while conceeding only 12 runs from his 5 overs.

In reply, Antigua and Barbuda started cautiously getting to 33 runs in the seventh over before the opening stand was broken by Nelson Boland with the wicket of Damien Lowenfield, caught by Jamie Cornelius for 16 runs off 23 deliveries. Two deliveries later, Karima Gore was also sent back to the dressing room caught also by  Cornelius off the bowling of Boland for a duck. The Antiguan and Barbudan team consolidated its chase with a 42 run partnership between Orlando Peters and opener Kofi James before Peters lost his wicket for 27 runs from 29 balls.

Cornwall in action

The fall of Peters’ wicket opened the way for a belligerent 52 run partnership between James and Rahkeem Cornwall, 39 of those runs scored by Cornwall taking the score to 128 before James perished for a patient 32 runs from 47 deliveries. Cornwall and Shane Burton both completed the job getting to 135 for the loss of 4 wickets. Cornwall ended with 40 runs from just 18 deliveries smashing 5 fours and clubbing 3 sixes.

The pick of the Nevisian bowlers was Boland who took 2 wickets for 19 runs while conceding 19 runs from his 5 overs.

Cornwall was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his all-round performance.

No play all day at Little Bay

At Little Bay, the match between St. Maarten and St. Kitts was abandoned due to unplayable conditions.

Matches continue tomorrow with Antigua and Barbuda vs Anguilla at Salem Park and Montserrat vs Nevis at Little Bay.