NEAT passing and possession were not enough to give Trinidad and Tobago a victory against Antigua and Barbuda in their opening match of the Concacaf Under-15 Girls Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on August 5.
Prior to the TT-Antigua match, the TT High Performance team were held to a goalless draw by US Virgin Islands.
TT, despite large spells of domination, could not capitalise in front goal.
The TT midfielders connected well in the centre of the park, stringing many passes together but the final touch let them down repeatedly.
Antigua and Barbuda did have their moments with the majority of their chances coming on the counter attack.
The TT midfielders, led by central midfielder Mia Lee Chong and the attacking Mikalah Guerero, kept the Antigua and Barbuda defenders busy.
Many of TT's shots came from distance that did not trouble Antigua and Barbuda goal-keeper Alyssa Laviscount.
The TT defenders also did their job on the afternoon with timely challenges. In the second half, TT's Jessica Nesbitt intercepted the ball to bring an Antiguan counter attack to a halt.
TT had a golden chance to grab a winner in the dying seconds, but substitute Alliyah Baptiste could not find the target as her shot from close range landed on top of the net.
Following the match, TT coach Marlon Charles said, "Very happy because everything that we did in training the kids did outside there. One of the things we talked about is that they were a little too anxious wanting to score. Sometimes the extra pass will make us score. Sometimes they are shooting from 40 yards just to get a result."
Giving more details on what he was pleased with, he said, "How we moved the ball, how the kept the ball, we keep rotating the ball from left to right into the strikers, back and forth. That is how we trained."
[caption id="attachment_1100687" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TT High Performance players Emma Collins, left, and Sydney Pollard, right, put pressure on US Virgin Islands forward Olivia Crikelair, during the Girls Under-15 Concacaf Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on August 5. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
Charles credited Antigua and Barbuda for their spirit. "They fought well. It is all about women's football."
Looking ahead to the next match on August 6, Charles said, "They have to know now the things that they did well, the things that they did not do so well, what we need to improve."
August 6 fixtures:
Hasely Crawford Stadium:
Virgin Islands vs Guatemala, 9 am
St Kitts and Nevis vs TT High Performance
Antigua and Barbuda vs Grenada, 1 pm
Curacao vs TT, 3 pm
Larry Gomes Stadium:
Suriname vs Dominican Republic, 9 am
Barbados vs Honduras, 11 am
Cayman Islands vs Bermuda, 1 pm
Belize vs Cuba, 3 pm
The post Trinidad and Tobago teams draw 0-0 to start Concacaf Under-15 champs appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
