Bodden Town end Auckland tour with a win

(CIFA): Bodden Town Football Club defeated Fiji Under-20 by 3-0 to register their first win of the Ocean Football Confederation (OFC) President’s Cup in Auckland on Sunday. Goals from Ricoh Brown (29th), Theron Wood (53rd) and Jonathan Ebanks (64th) handed the reigning Cayman Islands Premier League Champions a hard fought victory over a talented Fijian side, headed to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In his best game of the tournament Ricoh Brown opened the scoring for Bodden Town. Against the run of play, Brown got on the end of an errant back pass and slotted the ball past Fijian keeper Misiwani Nairube from outside the 18 yard area.

Wood doubled the score in the second half, capping of a counter attack led by Brown on the left attacking side. Brown played a neat pass the Wood who dribbled one defender before pushing his left footed shot past Nairube. Brown orchestrated the third goal as well, playing the cross that Emmanuel Brown slotted home to complete the victory.

“This is what we came here for,” said Captain Ramon Sealy, in his post-match interview. “We wish we could have done it in the other games, but we are glad that we got the victory today.”

Strengthened by the return of central defender Yefry Calderon, who arrived in the country 24 hours before the final match, and the return of Karl Solomon, who missed the second match with an injury, Bodden Town looked formidable in defense.

“We played our ball that what we can do. The other two games you saw a bad side of Bodden Town, where we didn’t knock the ball around,” Sealy said. “Today we knocked it around, used our flanks to our abilities and finished our chances, so that was a good result for us.”

Sealy was also crucial for Bodden Town, producing countless reflex saves to keep a clean sheet.

Bodden Town ended the tournament with a 1-1-1 record and finished fifth. They opened the tournament with a goalless draw against Singapore U-23, before being blanked by Auckland City 9-0. Sealy praised the level of competition offered at the President’s Cup and believes Bodden Town stands to benefit from the experience.

“This tournament showed us our flaws and our weaknesses, we are going to go and work on them. We will improve on our strengths as well, the tournament also showed us other styles which we can incorporate into our own.  This was a great tournament for us to come to,” he added.