Taylor hat-trick sees TT beat Cuba

A HAT-TRICK by midfielder Kayla Taylor paced Trinidad and Tobago’s women to a 3-2 victory over Cuba in their opening CONCACAF Caribbean final round match at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, yesterday.

Taylor put TT ahead with a 20th minute item and followed up with further strikes in the 51st and 56th minutes. It was not a walkover for TT though as Cuba put up a fight and had levelled the score through Yennifer Ramos in the 21st and then pulled a goal back to make it 3-2 through Maristania Mengana in the 82nd minute. But TT held their nerves to see out the remaining eight minutes to come away with the three points. It was a much-needed victory to start the final phase for TT who were captained by veteran forward Tasha St Louis.

Interim coach Anton Corneal, who took over after Jamaal Shabazz resigned recently, emphasised the importance of an opening win.

“It was a much-needed victory for us and I give credit for the way we were able to go into the game and see it through until the end,” Corneal told TTFA Media. “I thought there were some positive areas for us but Cuba never laid down and allowed us to pull away. Kayla’s three goals came at vital points in the match for us. When we went 3-1 up it gave us a bit of breathing space but Cuba made it into a match and we were able to keep our composure and come away with the victory. Now’s we’ll review our performance today, get back to the training pitch and prepare for our next match against Antigua on Wednesday,” Corneal added. TT will be able to call on the services of forward Kennya Cordner, Lauryn Hutchinson and Naomie Guerra who will join the team for the clash with Antigua/Barbuda .

Hosts Jamaica were scheduled to face Antigua/Barbuda in the second fixture yesterday. TT are competing for one of three places in the CONCACAF final round of qualification in the United States in October 4-17 towards the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.