HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) – Ebony Clarke scored in each half as Jamaica beat Bermuda 2-1 in their CONCACAF Caribbean Women’s Under-20 Group B qualifier at the National Stadium here on Sunday night.
The Reggae Girlz went into Sunday’s group decider with a superior goal difference over the hosts after trouncing Curaçao 10-0 on Friday night, following Bermuda’s 5-1 win over the same opponents two days earlier. St Lucia’s late withdrawal had reduced the group to three teams.
Canada-based Clarke put the well-organised visitors ahead in the third minute with a shot from the edge of the box that flew past goalkeeper Micah Pond, who frustrated the visitors with a string of fine saves during the game watched by more than 2 000 fans.
Deshae Darrell drew Bermuda level on the hour when she outpaced the Jamaican defence to stroke the ball past advancing goalkeeper Sydney Scheider.
Parity lasted only five minutes, however, before Clarke scored the winner for the visitors.
Jamaica will now join hosts St Kitts and Nevis and the other two group winners from Haiti and Dominican Republic in the final qualifying stage in November ahead of the 2018 championship.
Jamaica captain Emily Caza admitted her side were caught off-guard by Bermuda’s quality.
“We always felt confident of achieving our goal,” she said afterwards.
“We knew if we worked hard we would have enough to win, although I’ll admit we, maybe, underestimated Bermuda a bit.
“The early goal took the pressure off but we were still frantic at the beginning because of the competition they gave us.”
Bermuda captain Eva Frazzoni struggled to hold back tears after the final whistle but said she believed she and her team-mates had won the hearts of the fans who packed into the stadium’s main stand.
“We left everything out there and we really thought it was our time,” the midfielder said. “It’s really hard to not make it through.”