Young Girlz remain perfect - Jamaica Under-14 beat Dominican Republic 4-2 to win two from two

August 08, 2019
Jamaican striker Natoya Atkinson dribbles during  the CFU 2019 Girls’ U-14 Challenge Series at the UWI Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday.
Jamaican striker Natoya Atkinson dribbles during the CFU 2019 Girls’ U-14 Challenge Series at the UWI Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday.

The Jamaica U-14 Reggae Girlz made it two wins from as many games as they drummed the Dominican Republic 4-2 in their second fixture of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Girls U-14 Challenge Series yesterday at the UWI/JFF Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence.

It was a battle of attrition for the Jamaican team, who started the game strong when it took only two minutes for them to get on the score sheet off the boot of Zory Thomas. The wily winger Tiny Seaton doubled the advantage in the 11th minute.

Dominican Republic responded immediately when Mia Boitel scored less than a minute later to cut the deficit and in the 16th minute of play, Delilah Pinkney pulled the visitors level.

Captain Dannique Wilson made it 3-2 for Jamaica when she converted from the penalty spot, while last game's hat-trick hero Natoya Atkinson turned on the flair in first half added time when in a bout of skillful dribbling, she latched on to a through ball and rounded the keeper to score in an empty net.

Head coach of the Reggae Girlz Dexter Gillmore says that his team has played better than the last match, however, admitted that more work needs to be done defensively.

Last game

"If we compare the games, the last game we struggled a bit but this game we were more fluid and we got the result," said Gillmore. "However, we have to spend some time protecting the middle of the park, that's how we keep giving up goals. So we need to work on that."

Dominican Republic assistant coach Eric Nadal said that this game was a learning experience for his team who are playing their first international competition against a team he considers to be Caribbean giants in women's football.

The tournament continues tomorrow with the Dominican Republic facing off against Martinique at 2 p.m. and Jamaica playing Bermuda at 4 p.m.

- Gregory Bryce

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