A “fatigued” Women Warriors defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on May 30.
A goal each from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes respectively gave Trinidad and Tobago a positive start.
Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to halve their deficit heading into half-time.
Twenty minutes into the second period, one of the more experienced T&T players, French-based full-back Kedie Johnson, restored the visitors' two-goal lead to go 3-1 up.
So it remained until the final whistle, as the Women Warriors notched their second win in as many matches, and days, having defeated Aruba 1-0 on May 29.
T&T coach Richard Hood said he was pleased with the result but concerned about the team’s fitness after playing back-to-back matches.
“I am very happy with the result, (but) not so much the football. I thought it was really important we pulled off that victory tonight given the physical condition of the girls.
"We saw tonight where we all struggled. All our senior players particularly struggled having played 90 minutes last evening as well,” he said.
The tie was also contested on the same artificial turf for both matches, “which added to the difficulty,” Hood said.
He still lauded their effort as “tremendous” and added that they showed a lot of resilience “although they were very dead on their legs.”
Hood described the T&T’s goals as “three quality goals” and was proud two of his debutants found the back of the net. Curacao, he said, played a tough game.
“The opponents really made it difficult for us by their style of play. They forced us to run really more than we would have liked, played a lot of long diagonal balls trying to get behind, to turn around our defence, and that worked well for them for the most part.
“I’m happy with their determination to win that game tonight, particularly with two youngsters on debut scoring goals.”
Hood’s team has over ten teenagers supported by seasoned campaigners such as Johnson, attacking midfielder Asha James and defender Victoria Swift.
Having utilised a few of the younger players over the past two games, Hood is generally satisfied with what he’s seeing from the next generation.
“The future is really bright for the youngsters – once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting them with their development and getting them involved in more tournament such as these. All in all, I’m really happy with the effort from the girls.”
Aruba and Curacao will have their second meeting on June 1, and the tournament will conclude on June 3.
Trinidad and Tobago (4-1-4-1): 21.Mikaela Yearwood (GK); 15.Kanika Rodriguez, 8.Victoria Swift (captain), 2.Shaunalee Govia, 3.Ariana Borneo; 6.Chrissy Mitchell (14.Orielle Martin 75); 13.Sonia Lamarre (19.Talia Martin 60), 12.Cherina Steele (7.Alexcia Ali 46), 10.Asha James, 20.Ke’die Johnson; 9.Tori Paul.
Unused substitutes: 1.Maya Figgener (GK), 4.Kaitlyn Darwent, 5.Anastasia O’Brien, 11.Rasheda Archer, 16.Hackeemar Goodridge, 17.Mariah Williams, 18.Tayeann Wylie.
Coach: Richard Hood
SOURCE: T&T Newsday