The young Reggae Girlz will do battle with the Dominican Republic today at 6:00pm at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex for Group B honours in the Caribbean Foootball Union (CFU) Women’s Under-20 Football Finals. The winners of tonight’s game will face Cuba in one semifinal while the loser will face off with Trinidad and Tobago in the other semifinal.
The young Reggae Girlz will do battle with the Dominican Republic today at 6:00pm at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex for Group B honours in the Caribbean Foootball Union (CFU) Women’s Under-20 Football Finals. The winners of tonight’s game will face Cuba in one semifinal while the loser will face off with Trinidad and Tobago in the other semifinal.
The Jamaicans have been dominant in both of their encounters so far hammering St. Kitts and Nevis 11-0 before beating an ultra defensive Suriname 5-0 on Monday. They have looked a very good unit, compact and sound at the back, fluid in midfield and deadly in attack.
Looking throughout the team it is hard to find a position of weakness, with able replacements for just about every position on the field and this speaks to the strength in depth of this particular squad. This healthy position will allow Xavier Gilbert and company to rotate the squad throughout the tournament in which the top two teams will play five games in just over a week.
Taylor Grant who has started both games in goal so far, has had very little to do, but has done well when tested. The vocal goalkeeper can be heard barking instructions to the players in front of her all match.
The backline has a clear understanding of their roles and moves seamlessly in transition from defense to attack and vice versa. The full backs, whenever called upon to support the attack, are all too willing to do so, which helps to provide numbers going forward and clearly has helped to contribute to the healthy goal difference of + 16 that the team now boasts.
Konya Douglas and Courtney Plummer are both flying wingbacks who enjoy overlapping while Cachet Lue, who featured in the first game and Imani Richards, who featured in the second have been the perfect foil for Mackenzie Marsh at centre back.
In midfield, the talented and dominant Khadija Shaw has been stringing the passes all over the park, while scoring from distance. The 16 year old possesses a good range of passing and a powerful shot. She continues to mature in her role and is probably the best locally based player in the team.
Marlo Sweatman was an unknown entity to fans before the start of the tournament but her cameo role against St. Kitts and Nevis not only earned her a start but also the captain’s armband in the second game as regular captain and goal keeper Chris-Ann Chambers continues to recover from the flu. The attacking midfielder showed excellent off the ball movement, good one-touch skills and has an eye for goal.
Another locally based standout has been the skillful, tricky winger, Jessica Johnson. Slight of frame, but quick on the dribble, Johnson is not afraid to take on defenders and has quickly become a fan favourite at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex where Jamaica has been playing their first round games. She has been among the goals as well.
Nicole Harris who was outstanding in the previous round of qualifiers has returned in imperious form and has been a real threat down the left flank. Her tenacity was quite evident against St. Kitts and Nevis when she followed up her own shot to slam in the rebound from an acute angle and give her team a very healthy 5-0 half time lead.
Kayla Gray and Oshay Lawes have both shown that they still know their way to goal. Lawes got a hat-trick in the first game and Gray promptly responded with one of her own in the second. Between them they have nine of the team’s total amount goals and rest assured they will both be looking to add to their individual tally tonight.
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