East All-Stars 7

West All-Stars 0

Deshae Darrell and Teyah Lindo both netted twice as the East romped to another big win over the West in the senior girls all-star game last night.

Lindo struck identical goals from 30 yards to put the shine on her and the team’s performance as she was voted most valuable player for her team after an outstanding performance in midfield. It didn’t matter that the East only had eleven players, the difference was evident as they followed up last year’s 7-1 triumph with another seven-goal performance.

Lindo gave a sign of things to come in the opening minutes when her pass into the box landed perfectly for Symira Lowe-Darrell who dragged her effort wide.

Deshae Darrell had the ball in the net in the 15th minute but the effort was ruled out for offside. However, four minutes later Durham broke the deadlock when her shot from deep on the right dropped over the head of goalkeeper Anna Gilliatt.

Nia Christopher went closest to finding the net for the West when her free kick from 25 yards was tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Micah Pond as the West started to apply some pressure. However, two late first half goals quickly put the match out of their reach as Lowe-Darrell beat the advancing Gilliatt to a pass on the edge of the box and tucked her shot into the open goal.

Two minutes later Deshae Darrell struck the third when she collected a pass on the left side of the box and drove a low shot past the goalkeeper. Three-nil at the half quickly became 4-0 as Darrell dealt another deadly blow 70 seconds after the restart with a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

After that it was only a matter of how many goals the East would win by. Lindo scored the best goal of the match when she hit a curling shot into the far corner from 30 yards to make it 5-0. The East then had the luxury of replacing goalkeeper Pond with Lowe-Darrell in the 46th minute and five minutes later Pond got on the teamsheet, scoring from the penalty spot after Deshae Darrell was fouled inside the box.

Lindo capped off a fine performance by her team with an equally smart second goal in the 68th minute, this time curling her 30-yard shot into the far top corner.

The match ended with a second player going to the hospital with a knee injury when Brianna Swainson of the West was carried off in the dying minutes.

Naquita Robinson, the women’s national coach, admitted afterwards the East had a clear advantage over their opponents.

“I got the privilege of coaching the East side which is stacked with national team players or players who have played in the national team,” she said.

“The West team had not as many national team players and are probably a little more inactive, therefore not having an opportunity to have the ball at their feet as much as the East team.

“Only eleven players showed up for us so all eleven played the whole match. I was encouraged by both teams, obviously the West team needs more technical work and that comes with spending time with the ball. I coached the Middle School team as well and both of those teams were exceptional, so we need to start investing in the under-23 set-up because this is where a lot of our good footballers are.

“Teyah Lindo is a very good player, still has room to grow but that was always her range. When she came into the national set-up that’s what she could do the best. Not only did she score two fantastic goals but she was instrumental in defending and probably got three assists as well.”

Gilliatt, the West goalkeeper, was voted her team’s most valuable player.

Scorers

East All-Stars (Z Durham 19, S Lowe-Darrell 33, D Darrell 35, 36, T Lindo 40, 68, M Pond (pen) 51)

East Team: Micah Pond, Jade Stewart, Deshae Darrell, Taznae Fubler, Symira Lowe-Darrell, Teyah Lindo, Jahdiah Symond, Kendrea Dill (CedarBridge Academy); Zakiyah Durham, Zekiah Lewis, Raeesah Shakir, Jordan Davies (Saltus Grammar School). Coaches: Darrin Lewis, Naquita Robinson.

West Team: Anna Gilliatt, Sophie Gilliatt, Angele Basden, Sophia Wellman (Warwick Academy); Talae Quinn, Camryn Swan, Chloe Barker, Lauren Way (Bermuda High School); Brianna Swainson, Gemma Lindsay, Siyaunne Hall, Zahra Gibbons, Nia Christopher, Jada Samuel, Jya Ratteray Smith, Aliyah Carter Williams (Berkeley Institute). Coach: Shantel Deshield.