Cecoy Robinson is confident Bermuda’s Under-17 football squad will bounce back from a heavy defeat in the knockout stages at the Concacaf Championships in Guatemala.

Heading into the tournament, Bermuda held ambitions of making history, with just two victories taking them to the World Cup, but those aspirations were halted in the round of 16, as Robinson’s side were beaten 6-0 by Honduras in a game in which captain Malachi Henry was dismissed.

While bitterly disappointed to be eliminated, Robinson has called on his side to learn from the valuable experience.

“The key for them, and us as a whole, is to move forward from this,” said the head coach in advance of the squad returning to the island on Monday night.

“That will be one of the biggest lessons they learn. The boys worked hard for one another throughout this journey and as a coaching staff we are proud of their accomplishment.

“While it’s not what we wanted, all of them should hold their heads high because they will only grow more as family after this result.”

Reflecting on the match, Robinson concedes Bermuda were ultimately left to rue a disastrous six-minute spell midway through the first half.

In that time, Honduras raced into a three-goal lead while Henry was also dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. It proved an insurmountable position for Bermuda to overcome, with the opposition scoring twice more after the interval to wrap up victory.

“This was definitely a hard one to take,” added Robinson. “We felt we had every chance but the performance required was not where it needed to be by everyone’s standards.

“However, that performance was not an indication of this team’s ability, but one thing we have to improve going forward is mentality.”