Matthews too slow

DARREN MATTHEWS narrowly missed out on Barbados’ fourth victory so he settled for a moral one instead.The talented teenaged cyclist landed just short of capturing Barbados’ eighth medal at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico after losing out in yesterday’s mass sprint to the finish in the men’s road race.Although finishing 18th overall, Matthews’ position didn’t do his ride justice, as the recently crowned national time trial champ was just two seconds off the pace of gold medallist Honorio Machado of Venezuela, who won in three hours, 30 minutes and 51 seconds.So tightly grouped were the riders that just 12 seconds separated the first 28 cyclists home.But Matthews was just one of two Bajan men to finish the event, with former national road race king Jason Perryman (3:31.17) coming further down the pack in 38th.Reigning national road race champ Simon Clarke did not complete the race along with Jason and Mario Forde .Neither did national road and time trial queen, Monica Weekes, in the women’s equivalent, while Denise Crebbin was the 29th rider to cross the line in the morning race.Crebbin finished some 17 minutes and 27 seconds behind Angie Gonzalez’s (Venezuela) winning time of 2:09:24.Puerto Rican Marie Rosado, who won the Caribbean Elite Road Race in Barbados last year, took the silver just a second behind, and Colombia’s Diana Garcia, the bronze.Boxer Anderson Emmanuel, already assured of a bronze, was slated to face Colombia’s Julio Deivis in a 91kg class semi-final bout later last night while no information was readily available in yesterday’s women’s hockey semi-final encounter against Mexico.