Trinidad and Tobago’s national under 17 women’s team gave a strong second half display but it was not enough to prevent them from going down 3-1 to Mexico in the first of two friendlies on Thursday.
The Mexicans got their goals from Cinthia Sandoval (2') and a double from Fabiola Ibarra (39', 52'). T&T pulled a goal back through Jo-Marie Lewis in the 53rd.
Following the match at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento de la F.M.F, T&T head coach Even Pellerud gave his post match comments, saying : “We played a strong second half against Mexico, but was not able to recover from an unlucky start, with goals conceded in the first half.
“The Match then evened out, but we were never able to match the intensity level that the team normally plays with. Assuming that altitude in Mexico City and the fact that we rested several of our starters played a role, we are still disappointed in the weak start we had to this game,” Pellerud said.
“In the 2nd half, we played nice attacking football and Jo-Marie Lewis capitalized on a very accurate through ball from Khadidra Debesette. We followed up with several good goal-scoring opportunities; and Mexico started to look more tired than our players.
The Mexican players are still more comfortable on the ball and deserved the win. The performance gap is still not scary and we will learn from our errors do better in the second game on Saturday.”
Goalscorers- Cinthia Sandoval (2'), Fabiola Ibarra (39', 52'), ; Jo-Marie Lewis (53')
T&T Lineup
Saundra Baron (GK, Captain)
Khadisha Debesette (DEF)
Mallory Archer (DEF)
Rehana Omardeen (DEF)
Shante Helwig (DEF)
Khadidra Debesette (MF)
Annette Mims (MF)
Victoria Swift (MF)
Camille Charles (MF)
Brianna Ryce (FOR)
Jo-Marie Lewis (FOR)
Substitutions
1. Tineisha Cobham (Mallory Archer)
2. Kayla Taylor (Rehana Omardeen)
3. Danielle Mc Phun (Victoria Swift)
4. Kedisha Castillo (Camille Charles)