Barbados turned out not to be gracious guest after whipping host Guyana 5-1 when Group D action of the CONCACAF Female U-17 Qualifiers commenced at the National Track and Field Centre in Lenora on Wednesday.
The visitors took advantage of shaky defending, which allowed in one own goals, and an out of sync midfield to collect three valid points.
The more physical Barbados side outran and outplayed Guyana from the beginning as the inexperienced locals, most of whom were in their first major tournament, crumbled under the floodlights.
Guyana would go ahead through arguably their best player, Tiani Smith in the 12th minute. Smith struck a stunning free kick into the top left hand corner of the net to spark celebrations among her teammates. However, Smith would later rub some polish off her performance when she scored an own goal in the 21st minute. Barbados had struck earlier with a strike from Kitlin Padmore to hold a 2-1 advantage at the end of the first half.
In the second half, the Barbadians would score three times, all coming from free kicks. Scorers for Barbados were: Tia Brigg-Thompson (50th and 71st), Tiana Sealy (51st).
Speaking to the media during the post-match press conference, Head Coach of Guyana Akilah Castello pointed out that the team lacked speed and size. She also claimed that nerves played a big part in Guyana’s lackluster defending.
Barbados will next face Cuba in game two on Friday; a more detailed report will follow in a subsequent article.
