An intriguing final capped off two months of competition in the Saint Lucia Football Association Inter-District Under-15 Girls Championship, as Anse La Raye came from behind to beat Dennery 2-1 on January 17 at the SLFA Technical Centre in Grande Riviere, Dennery.
The game was almost a carbon copy of the preliminary fixture between these two teams, when the girls from the west coast had to come from behind to earn a 2-1 win.
Once more, it was electric midfielder Faye Alphonse who gifted Dennery the lead. The tall #10 picked out the top corner of the Anse La Raye net with a beautiful, looping free kick. Dennery continued to enjoy the bulk of possession in the opening half hour, but momentum quickly shifted in the second half.
Through Destiny Herman and Akala Sam, Anse La Raye kept pressing, earning several corner kicks, and the dam finally broke in the 39th minute. A poor goal kick clearance saw the ball fall to the feet of Lacey Popo, who made no mistake from 15 yards.
A further six minutes on, at the halfway point of the second half, Anse La Raye took the lead with the first marker entirely from open play. Valencia Lysan Seraphine connected from 20 yards with a screamer into the far corner to give her team the advantage.
Alphonse came agonisingly close to restoring parity in the 60th minute, but failed to find the mark with the next-to-last kick of the match.
Anse La Raye head coach Jovette Wilson told St. Lucia Times the result was expected, once the girls settled down and began to execute according to their training.
“Well, we had to speak to them, tell them what to do,” explained Wilson. “They were not attacking. They were not taking the opportunities. We asked them to stay focused because they know what to do. They can play the game. We did some drills day before, and they applied it.”
Wilson welcomed the seven-team tournament, which began in November. Her players in the final came from schools including Anse La Raye Primary, Ciceron Secondary, and Castries Comprehensive Secondary. She believes that with competitions like this one, there is hope for the advancement of women’s football.
“I love it because I never got the opportunity to play under 15. At a young age, I had to play seniors. We never got that. And I love the fact that now there is football for female from all ages,” said Wilson.
“I think it’s a good thing. And every district on island should have a female team so we can develop more and have more females engaged in football.”
After topping the table in the preliminaries, Desruisseaux held on to claim the third-place trophy, beating Soufriere 2-1. Janii Prevost, a student at Choiseul Secondary School, netted for the league-leading 12th time, albeit in a losing cause.
Individual Awards:
- Most Promising Player: Karimah Ferguson, Canaries
- Best Goalkeeper: Shariella Arthur, Anse La Raye
- Leading Goal Scorer: Janii Prevost, Soufriere
- Most Promising Player: Karimah Ferguson, Canaries, SCSS
