Congrats to the Ladies, they did well. I was at the game. Not a big turnout of Trinis, but I saw quite a few faces who are regular TTClubhouse and WI party goers. The ladies started the game assertively and Guat. went on the defensive. The Guats. held off the first wave of our Girls attack. But when they settled they had our girls uncomfortable. Our Girls were attacking mostly down the wings. Our striker is a good little player, full of zest, but yesterday she was a bit off. She made quit a few bad passes, and was unable to fend off properly, the players on her back. But she is a fighter. Mostly Cordner(I think) and Mollon were doing the damage up front. We missed a couple of chances. the highlight was a 15 yard looping shot, which the not-quite-so tall Guat. keeper was able to push over bars. She is not a bad keeper but our forward should have scored on her.
Now, midway in the first half when the Guats. settled, you begin to ponder. If this Guat team had speed, they would have given our girls a run for dey money. Their first touch and ball control is pretty good. The Guats. shielded the ball very well and at times led to our girls being frustrated. Thankfully Our Girls kept their heads and did not commit any fouls to get a yellow. But because our girls were hesitant, this allowed Guat. to get into their game. Nice 1,2s. Stretching the field to their advantage. Wings back overlapping and assisting in their play. Our Girls countered with speed but the Guats would make last minute tackles to stop the play.
We had the sub keeper in goal for this. When I came, I saw Lincoln working with her. She is small, but appeared very eager. Se did very well the entire game, except the goal, which was not entirely her fault. In a way, the suspension of our starting keeper was a blessing for this young lady. She did her task well.
Second half, both teams upped their game. We were faster to the ball. We missed a couple chances again. Akillah Mollon is a damn good player. She made the run to cross the ball for the first goal.Nice goal. Cordner timed the flight of the ball nicely. The Guat. keeper who was having a superb game had no chance. I think then the coach made a change for the little center forward. The girl he sent on(can't remember her name) is pretty quick and had the Guat defence a bit confused. Then we scored the second, penalty converted by Maylee. But don't be fooled. The Guats. were not ready to bury themselves and let us steamrolled them. They upped their game. our girls looked a bit tired. Guat. got a free kick. Ball came in with all heads going for it. ball skid off a head, and goal. Our Girls found the resolve to neutralize Guat and came out winners.
I am very happy for OUR WOMEN team. They deserve to go(if they improve their remaining game) to the WC. After all the distractions, these Ladies put on their blinders and did what they had to do.
Now the GK, did what she had to do and came out well. LP did his job in preparing her for that task. The defence played well. But at times Guat. was able to penetrate, but lack of speed was their downfall. The stopper for us is a boss. Not a big girl, but reads the game well. The left back, Liana Hinds was good. The rightback with the low hair, looked slow and got beat with the quick counter by the Guats, but she was able to recover quickly and avert danger. So she is not slow afterall. She also put some good crosses when in attack. Midfield. That is a work in progress. Maylee tried her best. At times she is great. When players elude their markers and make space, Maylee does a great job passing to them. Our Girls need to know how to make space when we have the ball. The Guats. know how to do that. All in all I was proud to see the WNT of TT play. I have seen them on tv. This a first live appearance for me. When I left home in 77, netball, field-hockey, TF, swimming, tennis basket-ball, volleyball were the women's game. Football was no where around.
The iron-man incident is really sad. The iron-man(Zaggy brother, could never remember his name after all these years) was beating his iron when police come and tell him, he making noise.That is crap. You in a friggin' stadium. That is built for noise. When the game between US and Haiti, the US fans on the Barra Bava end of the stadium were making a lot of noise also.
But all Hail the Lady Warriors.