Cayman Islands 0 Bermuda 4

Bermuda women started their World Cup qualifying campaign on a high note by recording a big win over Cayman Islands on Thursday night.

Goals from Captain Eva Frazzoni in the second minute, Kenni Thompson in the thirteenth, Jaden Masters in the 40th and Nia Christopher in the 68th, gave Naquita Robinson’s side a resounding victory.

The win means Bermuda top group C before Costa Rica, the highest-ranked team in the pool, take on Grenada on Saturday.

Robinson praised her players for putting into action what she had focused on in the build-up to the match.

“It was definitely was a good win for us,” Robinson told The Royal Gazette.

“The girls executed the things that we worked on in training over the weekend as well as in yesterday’s training session. We’re happy that we executed things well. The team played as a unit and worked together really well. Communication was good and the runs were very good.

“We could have scored more than we did, but the energy was high and that’s what we’ve been seeing. That’s been the pattern since we’ve been together, it’s been a high-level of energy.

“Not everything came off as the players would have wanted but the surface was tough to play on, so we really didn’t even get to see the full quality of our team.”

Bermuda enjoyed control and possession from the start, with that dominance yielding early rewards. Khyla Brangman and Thompson combined to create the opening goal, with the latter sending in a cross for Frazzoni to tap in from close range.

Thompson doubled Bermuda’s lead by reacting quicker to a ball spilt by Cayman goalkeeper Ericia Burke from an attempt by Christopher.

In the 32nd minute, Christopher was denied by some brilliant work by Ericia Burke after Bermuda split the Cayman defence before Masters extended Bermuda’s lead as she finished off a great square ball by Thompson at the back post.

Bermuda goalkeeper Taya Rodrigues, making her senior debut, came out to close down Courtney Hicks, who had Cayman’s best chance of the match.

Five minutes after the break, Zemira Webb tested Burke with a tricky shot, which the Cayman keeper managed to gather before desperate defending by the home team denied Christopher a chance to make it four in the 58th minute.

Ten minutes later Christopher raced on to a through ball by Danni Watson and rounded the keeper to complete the rout before she was replaced by Jahni Simmons in the 72nd minute.

Bermuda leave Cayman today and head to Guatemala, where they play their second match of the qualifiers on Monday.

“We play again on Monday against Guatemala, which will be a little tougher,” Robinson said.

“But I think defensively against Cayman, we were pretty sound. Even when they got through a few times, our young keeper Taya Rodrigues came up with a really big save.

“We also got to see young Evans Welch get into the game, so we’re excited about the future and the next match as well.

“We fly out to Guatemala on Friday and arrive there at around 3pm. Saturday will be a rest, recover and video analysis day and then we’ll train on Sunday.”

SCORERS

Bermuda: Frazzoni 2, Thompson 13, Masters 40, Christopher 68

TEAMS

Cayman Islands (3-4-2-1): E Burke—S Powell (sub: T Clark, 46min), T Phillips, B Ebanks—R Bateson, C Brown (sub: J Dixon, 85), S Monteith (sub: K Ebanks, 61), C De Quintal (sub: C Coles, 46) — H Nelson (sub: T Jan, 62), O Ridley — C Hicks. Substitutes not used: L Smith, N Godet, E Ridley, H Solomon, N Wilson, C Windsor. Booked: Bateson

Bermuda (4-3-3): T Rodrigues—K Goodchild (sub: K Dill, 46), D Watson, V Davis, M Christian — K Brangman (sub: E Welch, 89), Z Webb, E Frazzoni, (sub: K Burch-Waldron, 77) — K Thompson, N Christopher (sub: J Simmons, 72), J Masters (sub: J Ratteray-Smith, 77). Substitutes not used: S Crockwell, S Berkeley, M Butterfield, A James, R Valana-Pearman, S Trott. Booked: Davis

Referee: C Sobers (Trinidad & Tobago).