Maya Matouk scored a first-half double as T&T's Under-20 Women Soca Warriors blanked Dominica 6-0 to top Group Four of their Caribbean Football Union Under-20 Women qualifiers towards the Fifa Under-20 World Cup at Victoria Park, Kingstown, St Vincent and The Grenadines on Tuesday night.
Following Sunday's opening 2-0 shut-out of host St Vincent and the Grenadines thanks to a goals in each half from Tsaianne Leander, the Jason Spence-coached T&T women went into the clash against underdogs Dominica knowing that another victory would seal top spot in the three-team pool ahead of Thursday's final match between the host and Dominica.
After taking a while to settle, the Rene Mike-captained young Women Soca Warriors found their shooting boots with Matouk finishing off a precise build up with a neat finish for a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute and six minutes later Shauna-Lee Govia doubled the lead when she volleyed home off a corner kick by Chelcy Ralph.
Matouk then made it 3-0 with her second of the contest from an almost identical passage of play and numerous passed and ball movement from one side of the field to another before Ralph latched onto an Eden Charles squared ball to hammer home for a deserved 4-0 advantage at the interval.
On the resumption, the young Women Soca Warriors again took a while to find their footing before Corel Carmichael blasted in the fifth from 25-yards out past the Dominican goalkeeper. Carmichael, then turned provider and after being put through on goal by Ralph she dished off the ball to team-mate Zoe Swift to make it 6-0 in the 81st to cap off a stellar performance and passage to the next round with maximum six points, while Dominic and St Vincent and The Grenadines, who clash today are without a point. Commenting on the lopsided win, coach Spence said, today's (Tuesday) game was just a reflection to our preparation as we again scored inside the first 20 minutes as we wanted to and closed out the match at the end of the first-half with a 4-0 lead. With respect to his game strategy, the St Ann's Rangers women's team coach stated, "The team was asked to manage the game and stick to the game plan with emphasis on higher ball possession and this was done. "Before the match, the girls were very relaxed, but at the same time serious and focused as no celebrating was allowed until the job was completed by winning both matches and topping the group.
"This was achieved and in true "Trini style" they enjoyed a good celebration on the the bus back to the team hotel, playing soca music, mainly Machel Mantano "Like ah Boss"
While delighted with the number of goals scored as compared to the first match, Spence was also full of praise for his defenders saying; ""Keeping a clean sheet again was a reflection of what was rehearsed as I spoke to my defenders and drilled it home that defence wins matches and championships and today's (Tuesday) encounter heavily relied on a their performance.
"All in all it was a very good team performance as the game plan was again followed and executed to perfection. So we got it right in this phase of the qualifiers and must now build on this for the second round where we will no doubt face tougher opposition. Looking ahead, Spence said the team led by central-defender Rene Mike will enjoy a short break and resume training on Tuesday August 4 with their main focus on strength conditioning and speed. He added, "I am hoping for some weekend camps and at least three international friendly matches and then certainly another cam before we go into the next round of qualifiers. "In staying humble and working hard our objective is to win the CFU competition and qualify for the Concacaf Under-20 Finals, the final phase of qualifiers towards the World Cup. T&T now joins Group One winner Puerto Rico as qualifiers to the next phase while Group Two and Three will be decided today.
Also on Tuesday last, Grenada rebounded from a 5-0 loss to Jamaica to whip host St Lucia 4-0 at Mindoo Park, leaving the "Reggae Girlz" needing only a point against the host today for top spot in Group Two. And in Group Three, Dominican Republic blasted St Kitts/Nevis 6-0 and trails today's opponent, Bermuda only by a one goal-difference. Last month, the Puerto Ricans topped Group One, with maximum nine points from three games to advance to the Final Round scheduled to take place in Haiti, in October of this year.
Puerto Rico defeated Antigua & Barbuda 3-1, Anguilla 8-0 and Curacao 5-0 at the Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico last month. Curacao was second after beating Antigua & Barbuda 2-0 and sharing the points with Anguilla after a 1-1 draw in their encounter.
RESULTS
T&T 6 (Mata Matouk 15th, 30st, Shauna Lee Govia 21st, Chelcy Ralph 40th, Corel Carmichael 72nd, Zoe Swift 81st) vs Dominica 0
Group 3:D/Repub 6 bt St Kitts 0
Group 2: Grenada 4 vs St Lucia 0
STANDINGS
CFU Under-20 Women qualifiers standings
Group One:
Teams P W D L F A Pts
Puerto Rico 3 3 0 0 16 1 9
Curacao 3 1 1 1 3 6 4
Anguilla 3 0 2 1 1 9 2
Antigua/Bar 3 0 1 2 1 5 1
Group Two:
Jamaica 1 1 0 0 5 0 3
Grenada 2 1 0 1 4 5 3
St Lucia 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
Group Three:
Bermuda 1 1 0 0 7 0 3
Dom Rep 1 1 0 0 6 0 3
St Kitts/Nvs 2 0 0 2 0 13 0
Group Four:
T&T 2 2 0 0 8 0 6
SVG 1 0 0 1 0 2 0
Dominica 1 0 0 1 0 6 0