The highly anticipated match between the Unofficial Tobago SSFL girls All-stars and Panorama Ridge Secondary School ended with the Tobago girls edging out their Canadian counterparts 2-1 at the Courland Recreational Park, Black Rock on Saturday.
Fans were treated to a highly competitive match between the two teams as the Thunder saw their first football action of their tour of Trinidad and Tobago. Cherise Roberts opened the scoring in the 18th minute for the Tobago team. The Thunder equalised in the 78th minute with a 30-yard free kick by Harrop Mali. Former T&T youth international Tsianne Leander scored the winner 2 minutes from time.
Coach for the Unofficial Tobago SSFL All-stars Mr. Corbin Cooper was relatively pleased with the team’s performance. “It took us between 5 and 7 minutes to feel them out. I think Panorama Ridge surprised our girls with how physical they played. It was good to see our players battle back and give a performance that gave them the win.” Coach of the Thunder was just as satisfied in his sentiments about the match.
“The girls were happy to finally be able to play some soccer. It was a great first match to play. It took the players a while to get their legs underneath them, but once that happened, we played some good soccer.”
Tour coordinator Richard Goddard was ecstatic about the success of the event. He was very much thankful for the help from the sponsors. “The Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, the Division of Transportation and Tourism, Mickey’s Bakery, Sober’s Sports, Heritage Sports and BagoSports all came through to help make this tour a success up to this point.” He also commented on the fan support that came to watch the match.
“There were quite a few people at this match. The encouragement they gave to the Tobago team, coupled with their acknowledgement of good individual and team play from both teams was refreshing, to say the least. I can only hope this kind of support continues for these players,” said Mr. Goddard. In attendance was Mr. Jomo Pitt, Assistant Secretary for the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, who greeted both teams and wished them well prior to the start of the match.
The final match between the Unofficial Tobago SSFL All-stars and Ecole Panorama Ridge Secondary School will take place on Monday 9th March at Courland Recreational Park, Black Rock. The match will be preceded by a brief training session with both teams.