Unbeaten Bermuda set up showdown with Dominican Republic
Bermuda 2 Cayman Islands 0
Goals from Evans Welch and Miyari Trott saw Bermuda keep up the pressure on Dominican Republic in group F at the Concacaf Girls Under-15 Championship in Trinidad & Tobago yesterday.
Welch’s long-range strike in the 31st minute, her third goal of the tournament after her brace against Surinam on Monday, gave Bermuda the lead.
Trott doubled the Bermuda advantage seven minutes after the break, when she struck the ball into the top left corner after a taking a few steps into the box.
Semaj Baisden- Scott, the Bermuda goalkeeper, was fortunate to keep a clean sheet after Cayman’s Lena Price blazed her penalty way over the bar. The spot-kick was awarded when Zelaye Showers clipped an opponent inside the box.
The win took Bermuda to six points, the same as Dominican, who defeated Surinam 2-1. The sides also have a similar goal difference, which makes tomorrow’s clash a winner-takes-all encounter.
Bermuda coach Don Vickers was pleased with the effort put in by his players against Cayman.
“It all goes down to the work that the girls have put in, obviously we could do more,’’ Vickers said.
“It’s really good for us to reward ourselves. It shows that if you work hard, if you’re committed and dedicated to the process, then the results will come.
“Cayman needed the win, they came with a lot of physicality and pressing, so we had to adjust to that initial shock. We had to ride the wave out and we got the result based on a gutsy performance.”
Bermuda get time recuperate today before they meet Dominican in the group decider. Vickers highlighted that they will make use of the break to watch videos of their opponents.
“We’ll rest and review video footage of their matches to see their tendencies and things they’ll look to do,’’ the coach said.
“We have to come up with ways in which we can counter that and then do our thing on the attack as well.
“It should be a good game of football on Thursday. We just need to let the girls get some rest, draw up the game plan and see how we can implement it.”
On the contribution made by Evans, who has scored three goals in two matches, the coach praised the 14-year-old for displaying her sharpness in front of goal.
“She’s definitely one of our more effective attacking players,’’ he added. “She has the ability to strike the ball very well and has shown it in this tournament.
“Hopefully she keeps scoring and we stay organised defensively, and we still look to manage the ball and we see how it goes.”
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