Women Warriors whip St Vincent

Following their 10-0 demolition of Grenada in the opening Group “D” round on Friday, the hosts need only to get a point from tonight’s contest against Dominica to seal their spot in the Final Round in September.

There they will join Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the winner of a play-off match (on Saturday) between Suriname and Haiti.

But Trinidad and Tobago can advance to the Final Round without kicking a ball, if the Vincentians drop points against Grenada in tonight’s first match (of a double-header) at 6 o’clock.

The TT-Dominica match will start at 8 pm. On Sunday, St Vincent held Trinidad and Tobago at bay for 67 minutes before Aveann Douglas broke the deadlock, via the penalty spot, after Ava Robinson handled a left-sided cross from captain Tasha St Louis.

Two minutes later, midfielder Nadia James sent a through ball to striker Kennya Cordner, who slotted home from close range, while Alania Burgin stretched the lead to 3-0 in the 87th.

Annashine Arthur’s deep right-side freekick was hashed by national goalkeeper Alexis Vaughn in the 89th minute, with Vaughn misjudging the bounce of the ball and it ended up in the back of the net.

But St Louis completed the victory in stoppage time, rifling a left-footer after an enterprising run through the middle.

In the earlier fixture, Dominica and Grenada battled to a 2-2 draw at full-time, with Sheena Bazil (46th) and Cassandra Delsol (81st) on target for Dominica while Kishanee Thomas (35th) and Deslyn Langaigne (77th) responded for Grenada.

The top two teams from the Caribbean Final Round will then advance to the Women’s Gold Cup in November, alongside hosts United States, Canada, Mexico and the winner of the Central American Group “B” qualifiers (involving Costa Rica, Guatemala and hosts Panama).

The six-team Women’s Gold Cup, which will crown the CONCACAF champions, will also qualify two nations to the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China.

The third-place finisher from the CONCACAF event will face an Asian team in a home-and-away playoff for the final berth to the FIFA tournament.