Bermuda 1 Jamaica 2

Micah Pond produced an outstanding display in goal but it was not enough to prevent Bermuda from bowing out of the Concacaf Caribbean Women’s Under-20 qualifiers at the National Stadium last night.

The Bermuda goalkeeper made a string of saves to keep the hosts in with a fighting chance of progressing to the next round and a scoreline that flattered to deceive respectable.

Pond was kept on her toes as Jamaica bombarded Bermuda’s goal and had it not been for her exploits the visiting side’s margin of victory could have easily been wider.

However, all of her hard work was undone by two sublime finishes by Ebony Clarke either side of the interval which dashed Bermuda’s hopes of advancing to the regional final in St Kitt’s and Nevis in November.

Deshae Darrell gave Bermuda a glimmer of hope after cancelling out Clarke’s early first-half strike against the run of play.

It was a must win match for Bermuda after Jamaica’s 10-0 thrashing of Curaçao sent them to the top of the group with a far superior goal difference.

While the home side made a fist of it they were unequal to the task against a well-organised and disciplined Jamaican team that controlled most of the entertaining affair.

With a passionate crowd of 2,142 fans cheering them on, Bermuda came charging out of the blocks and applied pressure but were stopped in their tracks when Clarke broke the deadlock.

The midfielder gained possession just outside of the penalty box and took two touches before drilling a low shot past Pond into the far bottom corner.

The goal clearly jolted Bermuda and they had Pond to thank for not falling further behind moments later when she tipped Jessica Johnson’s free kick over the bar.

Pond denied Johnson and fellow forwards Jody Brown and Marle Fray — Jamaica’s hat-trick hero against Curaçao — on several occasions as the visiting side tried to capitalise on their dominance.

Bermuda eventually got a foothold in midfield midway through the opening stanza and threatened on a few occasions.

Jadyn Matthews, the Jamaica defender, made a timely interception as Bermuda forward Nia Christopher moved in for the kill.

Sydney Schneider, the Jamaica goalkeeper, then saved Symira Lowe-Darrell’s dipping volley during a promising counterattack.

Jamaica had the ball in the net again but on this occasions Fray’s effort was flagged offside.

Both teams threatened just before the half as the game opened up.

Christopher had a dangerous inswinging cross punched clear by Schneider and then just failed to get a boot to Lowe-Darrell’s inviting pass in the box.

Pond pulled off another fine save on the stroke of half-time when she pushed Clarke’s long-range blast around the post.

Bermuda were finally back on even terms in the 57th minute when Darrell capitalised on some sloppy defending.

Darrell gained possession deep in Jamaica’s half and dribbled the ball before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the bottom left corner.

Darrell threatened again moments later but was denied by Schneider.

Jamaica’s slick ball movement and relentless pace in the attacking third took a heavy toll as the match dragged on and there was a sense of inevitability to Clarke’s winner, which was of the highest quality. The forward gained possession out wide, danced past several defenders before squeezing a shot inside Pond’s near post.

Pond then denied Fray on two further occasions.

Bermuda were forced to play the final three minutes of stoppage time at a numerical disadvantage after left back Leah Smith limped off hurt with the home side having already used up their quota of substitutes.

By then the damage had already been done.

SCORERS

Bermuda

Darrell 57

Jamaica

E Clarke 2, 67

TEAMS

Bermuda (4-5-1): M Pond — L Smith, V Davies, T Fubler, J Masters — T Edwards, S Lowe-Darrell (sub: A Gibbons, 61min), T Lindo (sub: Z Durham, 64), E Frazzoni, N Christopher (sub: J Stewart, 82) — D Darrell. Substitutes not used: Z Turner, D Watson, J Samuels, Z Lewis, D Ebbin, T Mullen.

Jamaica (4-3-3): S Schneider — E Mikalsen, E Caza, J Matthews, T Clarke (sub: K Wright-Brown, 90) — G Washington, A Julien (sub: L Steel, 83), E Clarke — J Johnson, M Fray, J Brown (sub: G Gayle, 90). Booked: Mikalsen. Substitutions unused: S Smith, P Green, K Reid, S Clarke, M Dewkinandan, T Pitter.

Referee: M Skeete (Guyana).