British Virgin Islands booked their spot in the second round of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over US Virgin Islands in their play-off contest at the AO Shirley Recreation Ground in Road Town, BVI, on Tuesday.

After playing out a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, both teams again failed to separate themselves in a goalless second-leg encounter and so it was down to the dreaded penalties to decide the outcome. In the end, it was British Virgin Islands that held their nerves best from the 12-yard spot to progress to the business round of qualification.

They will join Jamaica, Dominica, Dominican Republic and Guatemala in Group E for the second round of the qualifiers, which are scheduled to run between June 2024 and June 2025. A total of 30 countries will vie for spots in the final round. 

The final round which will be played between September and November 2025, will see teams battling for five spots to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by Concacaf powerhouses Mexico, United States and Canada.

Of the five teams, three will earn direct qualification, while the other two spots will be decided via a play-offs.

 

Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands played out a goalless stalemate, while US Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands played to a 1-1 stalemate in their respective first legs, as first round action of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers got underway on Friday.

Anguilla 0-0 Turks and Caicos Islands

The action started with Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands failing to get on the score sheet at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in Anguilla.

The result halts an 11-match losing streak for Anguilla in World Cup Qualifying.

It was a very cagey first 45 minutes between the two sides, with little in the way of scoring chances.

Things opened up in the second half and Anguilla should have broken the deadlock when they won a penalty, but they were unable to convert.

In the end, the Turks and Caicos Islands defence held firm to secure the goalless draw, leaving things wide open for Tuesday’s second leg.

US Virgin Islands 1-1 British Virgin Islands

The second match of the day offered a bit more in terms of entertainment, as British Virgin Islands came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw with US Virgin Islands at the Bethlehem Soccer Stadium in Upper Bethlehem, USVI.

Scoring chances were few and far between in the first half, but it was a different story in the second half, as USVI scored the first goal of the day in the 73rd.

A long throw-in was headed in the area and fell perfectly for Jett Blaschka, who chested the ball to himself and finished a left-footed shot.

BVI camped out in USVI's quarters in their probe for an equalizer, but they found their opponents defence in a defiant mood at that point.

However, BVI’s Justin Smith had other plans and in the second minute of second half stoppage time, he fired home from close-range to earn his side a crucial away goal to keep things even heading into the second leg.

Three goals in the first 17 minutes helped propel Grenada to a 4-0 victory over US Virgin Islands in Group C of League C in the Concacaf Women's Gold Cup qualifying at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium in Grenada on Wednesday.

With the win, Grenada now sits firmly atop the group with nine points from three matches, while USVI are still searching for their first point after two games.

Grenada picked up right where they left off from the September window, as they broke the deadlock before five minutes had even elapsed, as Erin Sylvester steered home a header off a corner kick for a 1-0 lead.

Nia Thompson also picked up where she left off from September, as she scored her sixth goal of the qualifiers by running onto a long ball and rounding USVI goalkeeper Jenna Rehm to double the lead in the 15th.

It quickly became 3-0 in the 17th on a curling left-footed strike from Malia Ramdhanny after USVI failed to clear a corner kick.

But the USVI bore down defensively and kept the Grenada attack at bay the rest of the first half and into the second stanza. USVI pushed hard for a goal, but instead it led to a late Grenada goal in transition, as Abigail Williams polished off a counterattack in the 82nd to cap the win.

Guyana is on course to retain the overall title at the ongoing Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Junior Championships, having already secured a number of individual medals, which speaks volumes of their current vein of form heading into the Team and Doubles segment of the tournament in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Guyanese team which last year got hands on the overall championship for the first time since 2015 –after surrendering the 2017 and 2019 editions to Barbados –are now hunting a 14th overall lien on the crown.  

They once enjoyed a streak of 12-consecutive wins, which was ended by the Barbadians, but if their form is anything to go by thus far, then they are on the verge of starting another streak.

Guyana have so far secured individual gold medals through Nicholas Verwey in the boys’ Under-19, Louis Da Silva, the boys’ Under-17 champion and Under-15 queen Avery Arjoon.

Kaylee Lowe, in the girls’ Under-13, Mohryan Baksh in the boys’ Under-17 and Kirsten Gomes in girls’ Under-19 category, all secured silver medals, while Ethan Bulkan in boys’ Under-11, Justin Ten Pow in the boys’ under-13 and Michael Alphonso in the boys’ Under-19, added bronze medal to the country’s tally.

The individual finals got under way with Bermuda’s Mason Smith and Benjamin Sherratt snaring gold and silver in the boys’ Under-11, following contrasting victories of Savante Padmore of the host nation and Bulkan. Mason bettered Padmore in three sets 11-3, 11-0, 11-3, while Sherratt required four sets to get by Bulkan.

After losing the first set, 11-8, Sherratt recovered the win the next three 11-9, 11-3 and 11-5 in a match that lasted 28 minutes.

Both Smith and Sherratt then required 23 minutes to settle business among themselves, with the former winning 16-14, 11-8, 11-7.

The boys’ Under-13 category was topped by Barbadian Ben Shepherd, who stamped his class in an 18-minute contest against US Virgin Islands’ Ethan Mohamed. He posted comfortable 11-1, 11-5 and 11-3 wins, while Ten Pow registered 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 against Levi Jack in the third-place encounter.

The host nation was not to be outdone in the boys’ Under-15 category, which was won by Jayden George, who scored a three set 11-5, 11-3, 11-1 win over Bermuda’s Owen Rosorea. Daniel Sealy of Barbados won the third-place contest 11-4, 11-2, 11-8 over Charlie Makin of Bermuda.

After enduring two highly competitive semi-final contest against Vincentian Jaydon Williams and Andrew Cox of Bermuda, Da Silva and Baksh battled out a pulsating boys’ Under-17 final.

Da Silva won the almost hour-long four set showpiece 17-15, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7. Prior to that, he defeated Williams in five sets 6-11, 11-13, 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 in a 54-minute-long match, while Baksh was comfortable 15-13, 11-4, 11-5 victor over Cox in less than half-hour.

Verwey was also comfortable in victory in the boys’ Under-19 gold medal match in which he bettered Barbadian Alex Stewart in straight sets 12-10, 11-1, 11-6.

Alphonso, who lost his semi-final contest to Stewart, bounced back to defeat, British Virgin Islands Jace Jervis, who had earlier succumbed to Verwey, in the third-place match. Alphonso won the five-set encounter 12-10, 11-7, 11-7, after losing the first two sets 13-15, 8-11.

On the girls’ side of action, Trinidad and Tobago’s Gia Ghuran won the Under-11 gold medal, following a 14 minute 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 win over Delilah Grace Pease of British Virgin Island, while Bermuda’s Taylor Kyme defeated Barbadian Peyton Marshall-Brancker 11-1, 11-2, 11-9 in the bronze medal match.

Lenna Hamati of Barbados copped the girls’ Under-13 top medal in a four-set match with Lowe which ended, 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-2. Bermuda’s McKenna Kyme won the bronze with an 11-8, 11-5, 12-10 win over Guyana’s Tiana Gomes, who fought hard and won the second and third sets 11-2, 11-5.

Arjoon took only 16 minutes to crown herself queen in the Under-15 category, with straight sets, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 win over Bermuda’s Somers Stevenson.

Josie Thong of Trinidad and Tobago took bronze with a 11-6, 11-3, 11-2 triumph over Guyana’s Emily Fung A Fat.

In the Under-17 final, Barbadian Eboni Atherley, was comfortable in victory over Jamaica’s Sanjana Nallapati, scoring 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 to wrap up victory in 25 minutes.

Another Jamaican, Mehar Trehan took bronze, as she too brushed aside her opponent Safirah Sumner of Guyana, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 in under 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Under-19 crown also went to Barbados courtesy of Sumairaa Suleman, who rallied to beat Guyana’s Kirsten Gomes 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, after losing the first set 6-11 in a final that lasted just over half-hour.

It was an all-Jamaica battle for the bronze, with Savannah Thomson coming up trumps over Katherine Risden in an entertaining 49-minute five-set contest that ended 12-14, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11.

Jamaica eased past the challenge of the US Virgin Islands 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-17) at the 2022 Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association Junior Men (Under-21) Championship at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.

The win means that Jamaica which lost their opening match to Haiti have now improved to a 2-1 record in their five-team round-robin series and stayed in the hunt for the title.

The win lifted Jamaica to 11 points and a top spot on the table followed by Suriname (1-0) with five points, Haiti (1-0) with four points, T&T (1-1) with three points and the winless US Virgin Islands, fifth with two points and a 0-3 record.

“I know the boys worked very hard in the short space of time we had to prepare and in each game we play we have seen a drastic improvement as we have gotten better and better as the matches come along," said a satisfied Steve Davis, Jamaica’s coach following the shut-out performance.

Like his coach, team captain Andrae Robb was also pleased with the nature of the victory.

"We stuck to our game plan and we executed very well which helped us to get the win,” he said.

“Overall, we are happy with the outcome and will now rest ahead of our final match on Monday against Suriname.”

Meanwhile, US Virgin Islands' coach, Isaac Raphael, said his team lacks experience and it showed during the match against Jamaica.

"We know we have a very young team and you can see that the capabilities of the players are right there but our inexperience continues to bite us as we have been guilty of making too many careless errors when we seem to be closing the gap, and it has been hurting us in each game," he said.

Team captain Gabriel Rosa believes his team has to put more significant effort into their contests.

"I believe my team needs to put more energy into our game from the start," he said.

"We have been getting off to slow starts and for us to be competitive we need to have more concentration and focus for our passing and serving game to be effective."

 

A women’s pair of Chauna Kelly and Petal Smith will depart Jamaica on Friday for the Dominican Republic where they will participate in the Beach World Championship Qualifiers from April 16-18, 2022.

Jamaica will play in Group A alongside Canada, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and Curacao. Group B comprises Cuba, Mexico, US Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and the Cayman Islands.

Each team will play in a round-robin format with the top two teams from each group advancing to the 2022 Beach Volleyball World Championship which will take place in Rome, Italy from June 7th to 19th, 2022.

Jamaica is resuming competition in beach volleyball after a two-year hiatus prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The team will be accompanied by Coach Oneil Ebanks.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.