By Dean “The Sportsman” Greenaway
USVI’s Ashleigh Speakman, battles BVI defender Divya Nelson,during the second half of the game
The BVI U-17 Nature Girls Football team and their U.S. Virgin Islands Lady Dashing Eagles counterparts, played through a scoreless match for 51 minutes, before the home side scored early in the second half, of a 1-0 victory on Saturday at the A. O. Shirley Grounds, in their international friendly encounter.
The Nature Girls began pressuring the Lady Dashing Eagles Goalie Kyliz Osorio early and she blocked Eva Carey’s shot from a direct free kick within the first 13 minutes to keep the game even. Then 25 minutes later, Kyla Flax’s shot off a cross went wide past the left goal post as Osario charged the ball. Two minutes later, T’Nyah Richardson tried to score but a USVI defender cleared the attempt and both teams went into half time at 0-0.
Richardson scored in the 52nd minute off a Millie Cottreau throw- in, which turned out to be the only score in the 1-0 game. BVI goalie Giada Palladino, covered the Lady Dashing Eagles attempts to keep the clean sheet.
Nature Girls Assistant Coach LaToya Sue, told Island Sun Sports that it was an ‘amazing victory’ for the girls playing at home in front of their family. “To see execution of everything we have been working on in the past weeks was great to see,” she said. “The passes, the ball control, the movement when we were in control of the ball, how they spread out and literally looked for the space, their play forward and even their shots to goal, those are things that we have been working on and defending—how they created balance in the back like—now allowing shots to pass through to the goal.”
At halftime Sue said the players were told to continue doing what they were doing, not pressuring them, but being patient and the goal would come. “The goal changed the game a lot. It gave the girls more confidence, their team work came together and everything just moved,” she noted. “We still have a lot of things to work on especially the half side—I noticed that from both teams—we have to teach the half side a little more, because a lot of the time, our players were in the half side position so we want to take shots. Many times the girls procrastinated a little too long. If you’re open, take the shot on goal.”
USVI Coach Katie Quinnland, in her first game with the team, said she felt that in the first half, the things that they worked on in training, wanting to get in behind the BVI players and she felt like they were getting to the right players a lot, but they weren’t necessarily delivering the ball.
“We wanted to create problems for their backline and their goalkeeper. At halftime we spoke about it, getting the crosses in and we did a much better job of that in the beginning,” she said. “I felt they scored off a run off play, and then everyone started to get a little bit tired and the game became very transitional. We struggled to get that final touch and score a goal.”
Quinnland said as it was their first game in camp and being a little bit tired, positioning on their crosses towards the back post and being in a dangerous position, they didn’t have the ability to make the box and catch up with the player with the ball. “That was probably the thing missing to get the shots on target,” she said. “There are a couple of things we set out on this camp. Developing relationships, being competitive, making sure the girls feel confident with the style of play we’re trying to build here. Specifically for this game, we wanted to create attacking opportunities by getting in behind them. I felt that there was progress as the game went on.”
She said that she was pleased with the player’s ability to find the right player. “But I feel there’s a lot of work for us to do from the defensive side of the game,” she said. “We’ve only had one training session leading into this so there’s plenty of time to improve.”
