Trinidad & Tobago 3 Bermuda 0

Three second-half goals from the host nation Trinidad & Tobago condemned Bermuda to a defeat in their opening match at the Concacaf Women's Under-20 Qualifier.

A brace from Orielle Martin and a spectacular strike by substitute Madison Campbell left Aaron Denkins’s side with a difficult task in their remaining matches.

Canada, their next opponents on Sunday made a strong statement with a 22-0 triumph over Dominica, a team Bermuda is playing in their last encounter on Tuesday.

Denkins commended his players for showing tenacity and cited fatigue for conceding late in the game. He put emphasis on being competitive against Canada and Dominica without the unnecessary pressure of winning.

“I’m very proud of the team and the resilience that they showed,’’ the coach told The Royal Gazette.

“We had a game plan that they executed very well. As we started to get tired in the second half, things started to change a bit. Football is a game of mistakes, we didn’t capitalise on theirs and they were able to get something from ours.

“We have a few bumps and bruises, but we’ll pick ourselves up to be ready for Canada. The Canada game was before ours so we got a good look at them.

“We have a game plan and will field our best against them. There are no ‘must wins’, there are only ‘must compete’ situations and we will compete.’’

Bermuda goalkeeper Taya Rodrigues was called into action in the third minute to palm Gabrielle Ramden’s shot at goal out for a corner.

Samara Darrell had Bermuda’s first chance in the fifteenth minute from captain Katherine Bean-Rosario’s corner kick, which whistled wide. Three minutes before the break, Robin Valana-Pearman’s header off an Avani Patton cross went over.

It was Bermuda who created the first chance of the second half, with Breanna DeSilva Medeiros taking a shot on the run, which was pushed back into play by Zaira Aimey before Soleil St Hill booted the ball out for a corner.

Trinidad took the lead in the 66th minute. A through ball from Cherina Steele found Martin and the forward, the scorer of four goals at the under-17 qualifiers, slotted into the bottom right corner.

In the 75th minute, substitute Mariah Williams crossed the ball from the left to find Ariana Borneo, whose shot missed the top left corner. Two minutes later, Campbell’s long-range free kick was misjudged by Rodrigues, with the ball taking an awkward bounce and sailing over the keeper into the net.

A minute into stoppage time, Christia Lugo-Elibox’s outstretched leg was adjudged to have clipped Martin as she charged at goal. The Trinidad No 10 struck the spot-kick with ferocity to complete her double.

SCORERS

Trinidad & Tobago: Martin 66, 90+1 pen, Campbell 78

TEAMS

Trinidad & Tobago (4-2-3-1) Z Aimey – J Graham, S St Hill, A O’Brien, C Steele – R Archer (sub: Williams, 73), O Martin – G Ramdeen, M Yearwood (sub: Campbell, 25), A Borneo – N Penniston-John (sub: T Dennis, 46). Substitutes not used: K Taylor, Z Richards, H Goodridge, J Alexander, C Ayoung, S Brown, S Findley.

Bermuda (4-3-3): T Rodrigues – N White, S Darrell – C Lugo-Elibox, S Trott – K Bean-Rosario (sub: E Tuzo, 81), K Lightbourne, J Peets-Butterfield – R Valana-Pearman (sub: K Murray, 89), B DeSilva Medeiros (sub: K Brooks-Smith, 80), A Patton. Substitutes not used: D Brown, B Pachecho, A Haffar, R Brangman, J Trott, C Young-Gibbons, S Berkeley. Booked: Valana-Pearman.

Referee: O Hamilton (Jamaica).