T&T Under-20 women rebounded from their opening training-match 4-1 loss to host team the Dominican Republic to defeat Puerto Rican 3-0 in Santo Domingo on Monday evening.
A hat-trick from captain Afiyah Cornwall did the job for the T&T side which produced an improved performance as preparation continues ahead of their opening Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship match against St Kitts/Nevis on February 22.
Cornwall's goals in the 18th, 19th and 36th minutes, combined with a steady T&T defence which prevented any attacks the Puerto Ricans came with.
Though the game carried no worth in terms of points towards the championship, there was a fair amount of significance brought by the morale-boosting victory with this being the first by any national team against an international opponent under the current T&T Football Association (TTFA) administration led by president William Wallace.
After the match coach Richard Hood said: "We had a much-improved performance today, scoring three goals in the first half and we actually should have scored a lot more.
"Afiyah Cornwall was fantastic for the team, scoring a hat-trick and is leading the team by example. She is working extremely hard on both sides of the ball.
"Our organisation was much better today. The pressing of the ball and our defensive organisation was a lot better. The movement on the ball and off the ball was better but we still have some work to do. Fitness is still a concern but we are improving. We had a couple of days of good work on both sides of the ball and we saw the benefits of that in today’s game."
According to the former Police FC coach: "The opponent was not quite as tough physically as the Dominican Republic but they are a decent technical team. Our organisation today was the difference in our performance in the two games. It’s a work in progress and we will continue to work towards improving, going into the competition."