T&T’s women took longer than expected to break the Cayman islands defence yesterday but eventually booked their spot in the playoff phase of the Concacaf Under-20 Championships with a 2-0 win in the Dominican Republic.
Prolific striker and skipper Afiyah Cornwall again found the net as the Soca Princesses beat the Cayman Islands at the Estadio Panamericano in San Cristobal, the second straight win in the competition for Cornwall’s unit.
The win saw T&T book an early spot in the next phase of the competition with a match left against Haiti.
Cornwall, who scored a beaver-trick in T&T’s 6-0 opening win over St Kitts/Nevis, scored in the fifth minute of time added on for stoppages at the end of the second half to cap off the team’s scoring.
Midfielder Maria-Frances Serrant opened the scoring for T&T in the 78th minute after both teams had battled to a 0-0 scoreline in the first half although T&T enjoyed more possession and the numerous scoring chances. In fact, at the end of the fixture, T&T had 59 per cent of the possession and 10 shots on target to the Cayman Islands’ one.
Haiti joined T&T in the next phase after mauling St Kitts and Nevis 7-0 in the second game yesterday. Both teams have six points but the Haitians have a batter goal-differential. St Kitts/Nevis and the Cayman Islands are yet to get any points in the group.
Speaking after the match, coach Richard Hood said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance, noting that they had achieved their first objective of qualifying for the next phase. However, he admitted he was not happy with how many goals the team threw away and some aspects of their defence and attack.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the effort from the girls today. I thought they worked hard in some really difficult conditions and I’m happy moving into the second round, so we’ll do our recovery work and see what tomorrow brings in training and prepare for the game against Haiti.”
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz also progressed to the knockout phase after a 4-1 win over El Salvador in their Group E fixture on Monday.
Jody Brown scored in the second and 11th minutes while Lacey Murray and Chantelle Parker added the others for Jamaica.
The group’s other game saw Guatemala and Canada battle to a 0-0 draw.
Action resumes in Group E today with Guatemala taking on El Salvador, while Canada square off against Jamaica.
Cuba meanwhile secured a 6-1 victory against Honduras in Group C.
Analia Cespedes scored a double, Maristania Mengana, Katheryn Rodriguez and Cecil Aldana scored one each for the Cubans while Giselle Guzman scored an own goal. Maylin Menjivar got the consolation item for Honduras.
The United States came away with a 4-0 win over the Dominican Republic in the other match.
Score:
T&T 2 (Maria-Frances Serrant 78', Afiyah Cornwall 90+5) v CAYMAN ISLANDS 0
Teams:
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Klil Keshwar, Chrissy Mitchell, Latifha Pascall, Tsai-Anne Fernandez, Arnelle Douglas, Cayla McFarlane, Megan Rampersad, Sarah DeGannes, Maria-Francews Serran, Afiyah Cornwall, Alexcia Ali; (Subs) Aaliyah Pascall, Aaliyah Prince, Tori Paull.
CAYMAN ISLANDS: Satiah Miller, Shannelle Bennett, Artemis Deslandes, Lauren Scott, Alexia Bromfield, Daniella Gourzong, Molly Kehoe, Shayana Windsor, Tamoy Phillips, Ashlyn Evans, Serena Nelson; (Subs) Ethana Villalobos, Brianna Poy Fong.