A Patrice Campbell master class was enough to give St Augustine FC a comfortable 2-0 win over the National Under-17 team at Eddie Hart Ground, Tacarigua on Saturday in Women’s League Football (WoLF) action.
Both goals came from Campbell in a display that was nonchalant as much as it was dominant.
It took less than five minutes to elapse on the clock before Campbell opened the scoring. The National U-17s had most of the ball before that, and looked like they were trying to build some momentum, and then Campbell crashed a long-range lob home from outside the penalty area.
For the rest of the half, Campbell was a constant threat—she wasn’t alone however. Her partner in crime, Chanelle Walcott also terrorised the national defence on the opposite flank. Walcott was put clean through on goal, but a brave Klil Keshwar kept her at bay.
St Augustine had a number of chances to increase the lead; Campbell beat Shalisa King on the left wing to put in an inch-perfect cross which was spurned by Tonya Richards, who had more time than she realised.
Playing with an eternal smile on a face, Campbell scored an identical goal at an identical time in the second half. Just over two minutes had passed when she collected a poor clearance from Keshwar and buried it home with her next touch, also from virtually the same distance as she did in the first half.
With the margin doubled, she decided to turn on the party tricks constantly getting the better of her markers, and creating opportunities for her teammates.
The U-17s were out-gunned at this point, but not necessarily out-fought. They toiled for the remainder of a long second half, with skipper Kelsey Henry leading by example in the middle and attempting to make the play. Moments after St Augustine doubled their lead, she had a head from a corner flash wide of the upright.
In the 57th minute, Reanah Campbell managed to side-foot a cross wide from six yards out. Otisha David and Naketa John marshalled a composed back line that dealt with what the U-17s had to throw at them. At the death, came agonisingly close to halving the deficit when Laurelle Theodore flicked the ball on to the crossbar. She didn’t have long to contemplate her miss as the final whistle sounded.
The National U-17 team will have to pick themselves up in time for their next fixture in the WoLF as they continue their preparation for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Action in the competition continued yesterday.