Montserrat took a 3-2 win against Barbados at the Wildey Turf Stadium in Bridgetown, Barbados on Friday night to kick off the new season of CONCACAF Nations League games.
In what has now become the norm for the Montserrat Football Association (MFA), they announced the team and revealed a new head coach, Lee Bowyer.
Earlier this year, Matt Lockwood had been named coach and no formal announcement of his departure had been made.
Bowyer last coached Birmingham City before he was fired in July 2022. Montserrat’s top player Lyle Taylor has been coached by Bowyer twice, at Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City.
In Friday night’s game, Montserrat drew first blood thanks to Lyle Taylor in the sixth minute off a cross to the right post. Jamie Allen provided the assist as Montserrat were up 1-0 early.
The lead didn’t last long as the hosts had an immediate response with an eighth minute equalizer. A left-footed strike inside the box from Elijah Downey capped off a quick response through the left wing.
Another attack from the left side led to Barbados’ second goal in the 26th minute, as Thierry Gale put the exclamation point on an elaborate build up play.
Montserrat found an equalizer in the 81st minute thanks to a free kick. Joseph Taylor found substitute Adrian Clifton inside the box for the clinical strike.
A free kick opportunity deep into stoppage time provided Taylor an opportunity to score his second of the day. His right-footed strike in the 90+7th minute provided the game-winning goal and the three points for Montserrat.
Their next match will be against the Dominican Republic on Monday September 11 at 7PM at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium in the Dominican Republic.
Read Craig Brewin’s review of the game here.
