Coach satisfied

Barbados’ players celebrating their goal against Dominica. (Sharon Harding)

By RANDY BENNETT | Mon, September 24, 2012 - 9:13 PM

IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN under the best of conditions, before the largest of crowds or against the toughest of opponents.

But for Colin “Potato” Forde, it was definitely his biggest victory.

Barbados’ 1-0 win over Dominica on Sunday night at Kensington Oval not only gave Forde, Barbados’ embattled football head coach, his first victory in tournament play, it also put Barbados atop Group 4 after the first round of matches in the Caribbean Football Union’s Championship Cup.

After taking over the post from Thomas Jordan last year, Forde had a tumultuous start to his reign as head coach, with Barbados failing to win any of their World Cup qualifying matches during a listless performance.

After nine losses, three draws, and a lone 4-0 victory against St Lucia in an international friendly, Forde and Barbados have finally come good when it counted.

He told reporters that congratulations should first go to the Barbados team.

“They have been under a lot of criticism from the media, and rightly so. So I am happy for those guys that they rose to the occasion tonight and gave us the type of start that we wanted in this competition.”

With players from both sides forced to play in difficult conditions due to heavy morning and afternoon showers, Forde was extremely satisfied with his team’s performance, in view of the fact that it was a youthful and relatively inexperienced side.

However, after watching his team squander several scoring opportunities, he admitted there was some room for improvement in that area.

“I am happy with the way that the guys applied themselves. There were difficult conditions and through the middle was very heavy, so we just wanted to get the ball wide in better areas.

“We have been working very hard on our set plays and our finishing at practice. These things will happen and, hopefully, we will be able to put away a bit more of our chances that we are creating.

“But I am happy that we are actually creating the chances, which is always a good sign that we are playing attacking football and looking to score.”

Forde was quick to point out, however, that Barbados could not allow themselves to get complacent.

He explained that although winning their first game was an excellent start, they had to remain focused and committed to the task.

“We must stay calm at this time because this is just one game. We are going to celebrate this victory because it is new to us, but we will celebrate it in a calm manner and we will be very focused on the next game at hand,” Forde said.