Trinidad & Tobago’s National Women’s Football Team defeated hosts Curacao 3-1 to remain unbeaten in the Caribbean Queen's Friendly Tournament which continued at the Stadion Rignaal ‘Jean’ Francisca, Willemstad on Thursday.

The Trinidadians were given a positive start through goals from senior team debutants Sonia Lamarre and Cherina Steele in the ninth and 14th minutes, respectively, before Curacao pulled one back in the 45th off a corner kick to cut the lead in half heading into the break.

Lille full-back Kedie Johnson restored the visitors' two-goal lead twenty minutes into the second half.

“Very happy with the result, not so much the football,” said T&T Head coach Richard Hood said after Thursday’s win.

Important to note, this game came just a day after they secured a 2-1 win over Aruba at the same venue.

“I thought it was really important that we pulled off a victory tonight given the physical conditioning of the girls. We saw tonight all our senior players struggled, having played 90 minutes last evening (Wednesday night) as well and again on turf which adds to the difficulty,” Hood said.

“The effort from the girls was tremendous and I am really happy with that. They showed a lot of resilience although they were very much dead on their legs. I thought it was really important that we were able to score three quality goals tonight, given our fatigued state,” he added.

Curacao's tactics forced the Trinidadians to play a style they weren't expecting and Hood gave his team credit for adjusting well.

“They forced us to run more than we would have liked and they played a lot of long balls...but all in all, I am really happy with the effort from the girls tonight and I’m happy with their determination to really win,” he said.

Hood expressed satisfaction with what he’s seeing from the next generation after using a number of younger players throughout the first two encounters of the tournament.

“The future is really bright for the youngsters once we do the right things in terms of nurturing them and assisting with their development and getting them involved in more tournaments such as these so all in all, very happy,” he added.

T&T will face Aruba again on Sunday before facing Curacao on Monday.

Jamaica moved four points clear at the top of the 2024 CWI T20 Blaze points table thanks to a six-wicket win over Barbados at Warner Park on Thursday.

NaiJanni Cumberbatch (25) and Aaliyah Alleyne (16) were the only two Bajan batters to reach double-figures as they were reduced to 63 all out off 17.3 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Chinelle Henry did the bulk of the damage with the ball for the Jamaicans with 4-9 from 3.3 overs while captain Stafanie Taylor took 2-9 from three overs.

Jamaica then needed only 11.4 overs to reach 69-4 and secure their third win in as many games.

Rashada Williams top scored with 21 while Taylor made 15.

In Thursday’s other games, T&T Women secured a narrow two-wicket win over the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands Women successfully defended 104 to defeat Guyana Women by four runs.

Full Scores: Windward Islands Women 81 all out off 20 overs (Jannilea Glasgow 36, Shalini Samaroo 3-14, Karishma Ramharack 2-14)

Trinidad & Tobago Women 84-8 off 18.2 overs (Djenaba Joseph 43, Zaida James 3-10)

Leeward Islands Women 104-9 off 20 overs (Divya Saxena 42, Nyia Latchman 2-10, Sheneta Grimmond 2-19, Ashmini Munisar 2-23)

Guyana Women 100-9 off 20 overs (Shabika Gajnabi 44, Jahzara Claxton 3-13, Reniece Boyce 2-15)

After three rounds, CG United Super50 Cup champions Jamaica are top of the table with 13 points followed by Trinidad & Tobago (9), Leeward Islands (9), Guyana (4), Barbados (4) and Windward Islands (0).

Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago all secured wins in the second round of the 2024 CWI Women’s T20 Blaze at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Tuesday.

In the day’s early game, Barbados secured a 19-run win over the Windward Islands.

The defending champions first scored 123-5 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and deciding to bat.

Opener Trishan Holder led the way with a 54-ball 68 including eight fours and a six while Aaliyah Alleyne provided good support with 28 off 27 balls including three fours.

Zaida James was the best bowler on the day for the Windwards with 2-28 from her four overs.

Erin Deane (2-12 off four overs) and Alleyne (2-17 off three overs) then starred with the ball for Barbados to restrict the Windwards to 104-8 from their 20 overs.

Captain Afy Fletcher tried her best with a top score of 28 while Namiah Marcellin hit 19.

In the day’s second game, Trinidad & Tobago dominated the Leeward Islands on the way to a comfortable nine-wicket win.

The Leewards, after winning the toss, were restricted to a paltry 78-6 from their 20 overs.

Jahzara Claxton, Divya Saxena and Shebani Bhaskar were the only batters to reach double figures with 25, 17 and 13, respectively, against 1-6 off four overs from Steffi Soogrim and 1-13, each, from Karishma Ramharack and Samara Ramnath.

T&T then needed only 11.4 overs to reach 79-1 and secure the win. Shunelle Sawh and Djenaba Joseph were the not out batters with 20* and 22*, respectively. Captain Britney Cooper also contributed 21.

The day’s final game saw Jamaica get their second win in as many games with a five-wicket win over Guyana.

After winning the toss, Guyana were only able to muster up 107-7 from their 20 overs.

Mandy Mangru and Captain Shemaine Campbelle led the Guyanese batting with 36 and 33, respectively.

Jamaica Captain Stafanie Taylor was excellent with the ball on her way to 2-12 from her four overs while Chinelle Henry also bowled well for her 2-22 from four overs.

Rashada Williams then followed up her 52 from the first game with 42 to help Jamaica reach 108-5 with eleven balls to spare.

Taylor provided good support with 33 as Nyia Latchman took 2-15 from 3.1 overs for Guyana.

The competition with continue with round three on Thursday with Trinidad & Tobago facing the Windward Islands, Jamaica facing Barbados and Guyana facing the Leeward Islands.

With their preparations marred by financial constraints, Trinidad and Tobago’s senior women’s Head coach Richard Hood is bracing for the daunting task of trying to secure a spot in next year’s Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup. 

Hood and his Soca ladies will begin their hunt for qualification on September 26 away to Mexico, and the performance there is expected to set the tone for the remainder of the busy period.

Aside from the financial woes which has limited their preparations, Hood is also faced with the issue of some senior players being reluctant to represent the twin island republic, which means he will have to rely on his young charges to make the most of the campaign.

“I would say we are in a difficult position. We always knew that we were going to be in a difficult position because there are certain constraints where the TTFA is concerned, financially that is, and we will never get the kind of preparation that we really need in order to excel. But as a staff, we accept that and we will try to do the best we can do with the limited resources available to us,” Hood said in a recent interview with Guardian Media Sports.

“We are going to put our best foot forward, we are going to prepare the team to the best of our abilities, and hopefully on game day, we get the players to come out and execute the plan and we get the results we are hoping for,” he added.

Despite being a mere six weeks into camp, Hood has identified some positives in terms of player quality that he believes can be used to good effect.

“Based on what I have seen so far; we have two maybe three players who can definitely be added to our roster. The problem we always encounter though, is whether the university players would be released from their colleges. We have communicated with the players and most of them, who we are interested in, have indicated that they will be available, so for the most part, we ought to get the players that we want,” he shared.

Trinidad and Tobago are in Group A of League A alongside Mexico and Puerto Rico. After opening on the road, the Soca ladies will host the return leg against the Mexicans on October 27, before visiting Puerto Rico on December 1 and again on December 5, at home.

After group play, the three League A group winners will qualify for the 2024 Women’s Gold Cup Group Stage. The three second-place finishers of the League A groups and the three League B group winners, will advance to the Women’s Gold Cup Preliminaries.

“The encouraging thing for me is that there is some talent that we could work with. There are some players I would have liked to be part of it who, for one reason or the other, will not be part of it, some locally and some foreign-based players as well. But we will work with what we have and do the best with what we have,” Hood ended.

League A Group B comprises Panama and Guatemala with the loser of the Olympic playoff between Jamaica and Canada to join them.

Meanwhile, Group C is made up of Costa Rica, Haiti and St Kitts and Nevis.