The Saint Lucia Football Association’s Under-15 Girls Championship will be decided between Anse La Raye and Dennery, who advanced from the semifinals on Saturday, January 10, at the SLFA Technical Centre in Grande Riviere, Dennery. The two sides will clash for the title on Saturday, January 17.
Dennery, playing a player short for the entire match, still managed a 2-0 victory over Desruisseaux. Paisley Mc Fairlane’s own goal in the 14th minute gave Dennery the lead, before Trudy Joseph sealed the win with a second strike in the 25th.
Ruphinia Joseph, head coach of the Dennery team, acknowledged that her team had a significant hurdle to overcome, but cited the importance of resilience and preparation.
“It was a challenge for them, because they were one player short. But as they have always learned, nothing is ever impossible, and so they were able to keep their heads in the game and played to win,” said Joseph.
“It feels awesome. I knew we were going to get there. I don’t want to seem pompous, but my girls are very talented, very skilled. They have a long way to go, but they are going to get there. I foresee them as future nationals. We are ready. We continue training, as we always do, train to win, and we await next Saturday.”
Anse La Raye and Soufriere played to a goalless draw at the end of regulation time. Anse La Raye won the penalty shootout 3-2 to keep themselves on track for possible title glory. It was the second time the two teams had played to a draw, finishing the group stage with a 1-1 stalemate.
Anse La Raye coach Jovette Wilson said her girls are confident of getting a second win over Dennery in this tournament, though she conceded that the job is far from done.
“The game was a little hard, but we did our job. We came, we did what we had to. The defence was a little shaky; they could have done better. We threw a lot of goals, Soufriere also, but we came out, and we won,” said Wilson. “We played [Dennery] before, and won. So we will try our best to do the same again, though there are a few things we have to work on defensively, so we can win that game again.”
Desruisseaux will play Soufriere for third place next weekend, whilst Anse La Raye and Dennery will compete for the U15 crown.
