Saint Lucia’s Piton Girlz remain unbeaten in the Windward Islands Football Association (WIFA) women’s tournament, all but booking their way into this weekend’s final, thanks to a 5-0 demolition of the Commonwealth of Dominica on September 16. Preliminaries are being played at Victoria Park in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Coach Francis Panko McDonald made two changes to the team that defeated Barbados 2-1 on September 14. In came teenagers Kyla Lionel and Amaya Emmanuel for Freegeane Joseph and Clowie Williams.
Kenna Lionel anchored the defence behind Racquel John, Steffany Allain, Hayla Samuel, and Marissa Duncan. Captain Cassandra Shepherd, Shamalyn Albert, Torie Fanus, and Lionel supported Krysan Eggs St. Louis and Emmanuel up front.
Just 19 minutes in, Kyla Lionel opened the scoring with an opportunistic strike after a cross from Albert on the left flank was deflected into her path. Albert turned from provider to scorer a minute later. Fanus dissected the defence with a brilliant pass from just inside her half and gave the experienced Choiseul winger a clear path to goal.
St. Louis got in on the act in the second period, stealing the ball from the last defender and lashing it home. Williams, brought on as a sub, squeezed through two defenders to slot it near post for the 4-0 lead. And in injury time, St. Louis completed her brace from just inside the box.
In the late game on September 16, SVG were beaten 2-0 by Barbados, giving the guest team their first three points. Now on six points from their two games, Saint Lucia plays the hosts on September 18 at Victoria Park.
With seven goals scored and one conceded, the Piton Girlz are in the driver’s seat. They could still be eliminated from finals contention if they are beaten 4-0 by SVG, and Barbados beat Dominica 3-0. So far, Saint Lucia has looked the strongest team in the competition, and they will be confident of advancing.
