Atkinson brace puts U17 Girlz into CWC quarters
ANatoya Atkinson Brace put Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz through to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Under-17 Women’s Championship after a 4-0 rout of Cuba at the Olímpico Félix Sánchez yesterday.
Atkinson opened the scoring for the Jamaicans in the second minute of play, but had to wait until the 59th minute to complete her tally. The striker’s second goal was sandwiched by strikes from Shaneil Buckley, 53rd, and Dannique Wilson, 73rd.
The first half was a muddy, dour affair, with bruising tackles and switching possession the theme of the evening, save for Atkinson’s header from the game’s first corner.
Jamaica head coach, Dane Chambers, had said in an interview with The Gleaner that he wanted his team to be clinical in front of goal and after Atkinson’s opening salvo, he looked to be getting his wish.
However, Chambers also said he was expecting Cuba to be physical and that too rang true in the first half, with just four shots on goal between the teams. In place of goalmouth action, there were fierce tackles and frustrated teenagers.
The second half started in much the same way the first ended, that was until Buckley began abusing her marker down Jamaica’s left flank.
Sthefane Martinez had no answer to the quick, skilful advances of Buckley.
On one of the many occasions Buckley made light work of getting by Martinez, the winger darted into the box, skipped a tackle from the centre half that would have certainly have counted as a penalty, before composing herself to shoot past a hapless Chaila Hernández in the Cuban goal.
The goal, having made the lead safe for the Jamaicans, also brought with it more confidence.
That confidence was highlighted when Buckley pounced on to a lobbed free kick, ran clear down the left side, passed inside to Maya Raghunandan, who then went further inside to Atkinson. Atkinson’s one-time sidefoot was perfectly placed, leaving the Cubans with a mountain to climb.
That mountain might as well have been Everest after that when Wilson slotted home the fourth.
In other games from the yesterday’s round of 16, El Salvador dumped St Kitts and Nevis 10-0, while Canada beat Honduras 4-1.
On Saturday, Costa Rica clipped Nicaragua 1-0, and Puerto Rico beat Panama 2-0.
The Jamaicans will now go on to play against the United States on Wednesday.