Guyana qualify for U17 Championships after 6-0 victory

By Jemima Holmes

Guyana’s female Under-17 football team, on Monday morning, punched a ticket to the CONCACAF 2022 Under-17 Women’s Championships on the heels of a 6-0 victory over Turks and Caicos, in their final group game of the Under-17 Qualifiers.
This is Guyana’s second time qualifying for the Under-17 Women’s Championships.

Needing to bounce back from a heavy defeat at the hands of eventual Group C winners, Honduras, the Guyanese girls did just that, with a wonderful display at the IMG Academy, Florida, USA. To Turks and Caicos’ disadvantage and Guyana’s merriment, the opposing team were only able to field nine ‘roster-eligible’ players in Monday’s game.
Head Coach Akeelah Castello fielded a starting XI consisting of: Captain Alyssa Blake, Anostasha Coppin, Ciara Sarius, Nakasi St Jules, Akeelah Vancooten, Sandra Johnson, Sue Edwards, Karan Jupiter, Anaya Willabus, Sidney Facey, and Jalade Trim.

It is safe to say that Guyana’s win could have been by a much larger margin, as a handful of scoring opportunities were left to chance in the encounter. The most notable of which saw a penalty shot from Trim in the 15th minute being saved by opposing goalkeeper Crystal Jean Baptiste.
Following the penalty kick, the Guyanese girls quickly got their act together, with Willabus officially opening the scoring in the 21st minute, as her shot escaped the reach of Baptiste. Johnson joined the party in the 30th. A shot at the goal from Facey was intercepted by the goalkeeper, but Willabus capitalised on the loose ball to complete her brace in the 38th, as Guyana finished the half with a 3-0 scoreline.

The Turks and Caicos team, although depleted, had their fair share of chances. The most prominent one saw Mikayla Marcellus charging past Guyana’s defence towards the goal. With Guyana’s goalie well outside her area, it appeared as though it would become a 3-1 game, but Marcellus’ shot was well off, veering away outside of the goal posts.
On the back of a free kick, an impressive header from Trim ensured that she would be the one to open the scoring in the second segment in the 47th minute. A truly chaotic scene in front of the goal in the 53rd minute was given some semblance of normalcy as Trim followed up with a sliding kick, guiding the ball into the goal for her second and pushing Guyana’s tally to 5.
While the ensuing minutes were quiet for both teams, Johnson took advantage of the opponents’ deficit one last time to net Guyana’s sixth and her second goal in the 82nd minute.
Prior to their encounter with Turks and Caicos, Guyana enjoyed a 1-0 victory over Anguilla in their opening match last Thursday, but suffered a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Group winners Honduras on Saturday.
As the rules of the Qualifiers go, the top teams from the three groups automatically advanced to the CONCACAF U17 Women’s Championships, while the best second-place team would also advance, following the calculation of points.
With two wins against their three opponents, the Guyanese Under-17 Girls have finished as the best second-place team in the qualification tournament, thus booking a spot in the Championships. Aside from Group C winners Honduras and Guyana, Curaçao (Group B) and St Kitts and Nevis (Group A) are the other qualifiers.
The CONCACAF Women’s U17 Championships are scheduled for January 2022. In the Championships, the top-ranked 16 teams participating in the group stage will be divided into four groups for round-robin play. Following that stage, the top three teams from each group will advance to the Round of 16, where they will join the four teams from the Qualifiers. The top three finishers in that tournament will automatically seal their spot in the FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup, which is set for October 11-30, 2022 in India.