Dominican Republic Defeats Lady Tridents 3-0 in Concacaf W Gold Cup Qualifier

The Lady Tridents received a tough footballing lesson from hosts Dominican Republic (D.R.) as they fell to a 3-0 defeat to Las Quisqueyanas on a rainy Tuesday night in their 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup qualifier at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo.

The team was brought back down to earth after riding high on confidence from their 5-0 victory over St Vincent and the Grenadines at home last Friday night, but a goal in each half by Vanessa Kara and a towering header by Brianne Reed, claimed all three points and a maiden group phase victory for the home side.

“From minute one to 38, I was pretty happy. We followed the game plan especially in the first 15 minutes which was to not concede and make it hard for the opponent to penetrate our defence,” women’s head coach Mario Harte told Nation Sport after the defeat.

“We did a good job there but unfortunately, a lapse in concentration caused the first goal. Those second half goals were the turning point in the game because it was difficult to get out of our own half even though we started to play some good football and keep possession. At that point, it was difficult to get out that hole.”

“Even in the 90th minute we still had players doing full on sprints, so I am happy with the effort. It is a work in progress and we don’t play many practice games, so we have to learn from every game.”

Kara broke the deadlock in the 39th minute with a neat finish while Reed extended the lead early in the second half with a header from Winibian Peralta’s corner in the 53rd minute. Kara completed her brace in the 55th minute and that proved to be enough for her team to claim their first win of the competition after their 2-0 loss to group leaders Bermuda last Friday.

The Lady Tridents are now second in Group C of League B with three points and stay ahead of Dominican Republic on goal difference. St Vincent and the Grenadines are bottom of the group after suffering a second successive loss, 4-0 at home to Bermuda early on Tuesday evening.

Both teams return to action in about a month’s time. Barbados will oppose Bermuda at home and away while Dominican Republic will do battle with St Vincent and the Grenadines. (NM)