Prolific marksman Raymond Beach received a call to national team duty shortly after bagging four goals in a Friendship Trophy contest at Devonshire Recreation Club last Sunday, learned yesterday.

But the soft-spoken frontman who prefers to let his boots do all the talking declined the offer.

Shortly after arriving in St.Vincent yesterday morning to prepare for this week?s three Digicel Cup matches, national team coach Kyle Lightbourne revealed the Devonshire Cougars player had been approached only hours after it was learned Reading striker Shaun Goater would not be able to make the trip to the Caribbean.

?I did speak to Raymond (Beach) but he said he would be unavailable to play,? said Lightbourne, minutes before holding a midday practice session with the squad.

?After I had been informed Shaun would not be making the trip I then approached Devonshire Cougars over the possibility of having Raymond fly down to join the team . . . but he declined the offer for personal reasons.?

Monday saw Bermuda?s national squad hit by a double whammy as Goater backed out of the tour at the 11th hour bceause of an injury crisis at Reading and PHC striker Antwon Russell refused to board the American Airlines flight to New York?s JFK Airport for fear of flying.

North Village midfield schemer Jemieko Jennings and Boulevard?s veteran striker Marvin Belboda were then named as last-minute replacements and are now due to arrive in St.Vincent this morning only hours before Bermuda take to the pitch against Cayman Island in their opening Group E clash in Kingstown.

?Marvin and Jemieko are expected to arrive here early tomorrow (today) morning,? added Lightbourne, who described the weather in St.Vincent as ?very? hot.

The former Coventry City striker also confirmed yesterday another in-form striker, Ralph Bean Jr, could not make the journey because of heavy work commitments.

Like Beach, Bean is also currently on a hot scoring streak, having banged in six goals in the previous three outings for Village.

Lightbourne is now relying upon US-based professional John Barry Nusum, Clevon Hill, Aljame Zuill, Damon Ming, Khano Smith, Jahnai Raynor or possibly even Belboda to deliver the goods in attack.

?Yes, we would have liked to have Beach in the squad and I am confident he will be a part of the team in the near future,? Lightbourne added.

?And as far as Ralph (Bean) is concerned he could not make the trip due to work commitments.

?Actually, most of the national squad members who played in the World Cup qualifying tournament earlier this year could not make it through work commitments.?

That list also includes the likes of Shannon Burgess, Dwayne (Streaker) Adams, Meshach Wade, Stanton Lewis, Troy Hall and Otis Steede ? all players who were members of former national coach Kenny Thompson?s World Cup qualifying squad.

Beach has topped the Premier Division scoring charts for the past three seasons and was voted as the league?s Most Valuable Player in 2002-03.

After sitting out Cougars? opening five games of this season through suspension, the irrepressible striker has netted 11 goals in five appearances for the big cats.

Beach and strike partner Heys Wolfe ? currently out injured ? were initially banned after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute following a heated verbal spat with former national coach Thompson and Bermuda Football Association (BFA) second vice-president Gregory Grimes at the National Sports Centre earlier this year.

However, a Ministry of Youth and Sports arbitration tribunal later overturned the ban on the grounds that a BFA emergency committee had conducted the initial disciplinary hearing in an ?inappropriate? manner, clearing the way for the Cougars pair to resume playing on October 17.

Bermuda take on St. Vincent on Friday before rounding off their Group E matches against British Virgin Islands on Sunday.