‘Our keeper saved us’, says coach
Guyana head coach Jamaal Shabazz praised goalkeeper Ronson Williams’ ‘outstanding’ display for helping his team grab a valuable draw against Bermuda last night.Williams pulled off three vital saves, including two deep into injury time to deny Nahki Wells and John Barry Nusum as the home side desperately pressed for a winner. The goalkeeper also made a smart save to deny Reggie Lambe early in the second half as Guyana kept their lead at the top of Group B.“Our goalkeeper was outstanding tonight, he came up big and generally I thought it (the finish) provided fans with a lot of excitment but a little too much for me,” said Shabazz.The Guyana boss was also grateful for the calming presence of former Stoke City defender Leon Cort and stand-in skipper Charles Pollard, who took the captain’s armband in the absence of Chris Nurse.“Cort’s experience and his aerial strength and just his and Charles Pollard’s abilities at the back helped us,” said Shabazz. “Having been there a 100 times before and being able to absorb that type of pressure, I think their presence helped our team to weather than (final) storm.”Shabazz thought a draw was a fair result and said his side were showing a growing maturity in their football.“It (qualifying) is like an egg and spoon race,” said Shabazz, “you have to go, but you can’t go wild because the egg will fall out of the spoon.“This game showed that our team is maturing because there has been the inclination to just get everything forward and a lot of time we have had to caution the players to play a lot more tentative, a lot more reserved. Because of that I thought we gave up a lot of space to Bermuda, and I thought they did well. It was a fair result.”The draw keeps Guyana just ahead of Trinindad and Tobago, who beat Barbados yesterday, and the top two now play each other twice next month. Guyana have 10 points and Trinidad nine, and which team progresses from the group stage is likely to be decided on the outcome of those two matches.“As a footballer there are games that you live for,” said Pollard. “I consider Trinidad to be my second home, I’ve played my football there for the last 10 years so it’s going to be a very good match and hopefully the result is in our favour.”
