Home|Sports|Grenada blasts The BahamasSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailSeptember 21, 2023 33 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas senior women’s national football team was in action last night after a long hiatus, but fell 6-1 to Grenada in the opening of the ‘Road to the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Women’s Gold Cup’ at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.
It was a close game in the first half, as Grenada led 2-1 in the CONCACAF Nations League match going into the break, but a four-goal haul in the second half was the difference in the game. Head Coach for The Bahamas Ricqea Bain was happy to see the women show flashes of what they could do.
“We got to pass the ball around to get the nerves off. Unfortunately, the other team was able to secure the match. We were able to find the back of the net. We have been working for four months and was able to build out of the back, pass to the midfield and finish for a goal,” Bain said.
The Bahamas started the game off looking strong as they got the jitters out of their system. After having possession in the 12th minute, The Bahamas gave the ball away in the midfield and Nia Thompson got the ball for Grenada and got past the last Bahamian defender. Thompson was one-on-one against the Bahamian goalkeeper Melina McClure and found the back of the net to put the visitors up 1-0.
Grenada’s captain Roneisha Frank got past McClure in the 35th minute and got a wide open goal as she tapped the ball in with her left foot to put Grenada up 2-0.
Just before halftime, Bahamian Demitra McClure saw an opening in Grenada’s goal and exploited it with a well-placed shot that went over Grenada’s goalkeeper Keona Salandy and into the back of the net to cut into Grenada’s lead, 2-1, in the 44th minute.
After a scoreless 29 minutes to start the second half that saw The Bahamas trying to tie the game and Grenada looking to shake off a pesky Bahamian side, Thompson scored her second goal of the game in the 74th minute to put Grenada up 3-1. Two minutes later, Thompson was going for her hat trick but Brianna Capron brought her down at the top of the 18-yard box. Capron was whistled for a foul and given a red card to set up a free kick in dangerous territory. Grenada’s defender Malia Ramdhanny said she came into the game wanting to get on the scoresheet. She took the free kick and scored to put Grenada up 4-1.
Forced to play with 10 players on the field after the red card, Grenada took advantage and scored two more goals to win 6-1 to take the full three points after the first game.
Grenada’s Head Coach Jake Rennie said he was not surprised that they won but he was expecting a 4-0 margin.
“We are happy for the win but we started off slow. The Bahamas played well in the first half and put pressure on us. I was not satisfied with the way we started the game. We could have done much better. Not knowing what we were up against had an effect on the way we started. We were able to play much better in the second half. We changed the pace of the game and moved the ball around, got chances to score and took it away from The Bahamas,” Rennie said.
The two teams face each other again on Sunday at the Kirani James Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada. That match will start at 4 p.m.