Douglas comes off bench to lift Cayman to key win over BVI in Concacaf Nations League play

Saint Kitts — Dimetri Douglas scored just seconds after entering the match to lift the Cayman Islands Men’s National Team to a 1-0 win over British Virgin Islands in Cayman’s penultimate Concacaf Nations League group match Saturday, 12 Oct. at Warner Park.

Douglas came on with the score knotted at 0 in the 69th minute and Cayman setting up for a corner kick. He ran onto the pitch and settled into his position in the box just as Cayman’s Zachary Scott whipped the corner to the penalty spot, which Douglas headed to the far post past keeper Simon Cross for the winner.

“I feel nice, it means a lot to me to just come on and score on [my] first touch of the game,” Douglas said. “I was just thankful that I scored the winning goal.”

Douglas’ goal provided a spark for a Cayman attack that statistically dominated the match but struggled to break through. Cayman finished the match with a 5-0 advantage in shots on goal and out-shot BVI 15-2 overall. Cayman also had 10 corner kicks to BVI’s two.

Still, the go-ahead score eluded Cayman until Douglas’ 69th-minute header.

“Dimitri is a player who is already long time training with us, but he has never got the chance to perform in a Nations League match or World Cup qualification match,” Cayman Islands Men’s National Team Head Coach Joey Jap Tjong said. “I must say, he really improved. I kept my confidence in him and this was the moment. I took him by his head, I looked him in the eyes and I said, ‘the only thing you’re going to do is score. You go in and nothing else. You are going to score because that’s what your task is now because we need the three points and this is how you’re going to get your chance and take your chance.’ You know, that’s what he did.”

Cayman Islands goalkeeper Lachlin Lambert posted his third clean sheet in the last five matches while Cayman’s backline ensured he remained unbothered for most of the day.

With the win, Cayman remains in second place in Group C of League C of the Concacaf Nations League competition. The team can qualify for the competition’s Play-In stage either by winning Group C or finishing as the best second-place finisher of the three groups.

Cayman’s final Group Stage match comes at 2:30 p.m. (Cayman time) on Tuesday, 15 Oct. versus St. Kitts and Nevis, which beat Cayman 4-1 in their previous meeting.

There are several scenarios which would see Cayman qualify through to the next round. A win versus St. Kitts and Nevis on Tuesday would punch a ticket through the Play-In. A draw would also do it should Bahamas lose to Barbados in their Group A finale that same day. Cayman could still potentially advance without a win or draw, depending on the outcome of that match and the Group B finale between Belize and Turks Caicos.

Jap Tjong said he wants to see the team start to put away more of its chances, which will be key to its success moving forward.

“We have to learn to break through good defending walls because (BVI) had a good defending wall,” he said.

“We had a lot of chances. The first 10 minutes, we could have scored already three goals and if you score those goals, then it’s a difference. And we didn’t, so we are making it difficult for ourselves.”

The fourth edition of the CNL kicked off in September with matches across all three Leagues (A, B, and C). Highlights included Cayman’s Elijah Seymour scoring the competition’s 1,000th goal. The match results and standings are available here. 

A total of 37 CNL matches are scheduled for this week, concluding Group Stage play for Leagues A and C, while League B will play through November.  The CNL Play-In will take place during the FIFA Match Window of November. It will consist of a single direct elimination round and eight teams: the fifth and sixth-place finishers from the League A Groups and the group winners and the best second-place finisher from League C.  The group winners of League C will be promoted to League B, as will the best second-place team.