Bermuda’s all out attacking policy paid off in the deciding match in the women’s Caribbean Cup in Turks and Caicos after defeating St Kitts and Nevis 3-1 to win their group and advance to the finals in Trinidad and Tobago in August.

Naquita Robinson’s team responded positively after drawing 2-2 with Cayman Islands in their second match and threw caution to the wind against St Kitts on Tuesday to claim the victory that guaranteed them winning their group despite Cayman’s 3-0 triumph over Turks in the later match.

Had they finished as group runners-up, Bermuda would have had to have waited until June 22 to find out whether they would advance as one of the best two second-placed finishers.

Akelyla Furbert, Shuntae Todd and Dominique Richardson scored Bermuda’s goals to ensure passage into the final of the inaugural competition.

Furbert gave Bermuda the lead in the 14th minute before Todd doubled the advantage from the penalty spot three minutes later. St Kitts pulled a goal back in the 28th minute, but Bermuda restored their two-goal cushion with Richardson’s tap-in in the 71st minute.

“After Sundays result against Cayman the girls were a bit down and it actually felt like we lost, but they knew what had to be done,” Robinson said.

“[Monday’s] training session was specifically geared towards an all-out attack. I changed the formation to a traditional 4-4-2 and went for it. We knew it was an all or nothing and I went for broke.

“The players executed the game plan extremely well. What worked in our favour was that — and no disrespect to the Turks and Caicos or Cayman Islands — St Kitts hadn’t played the best team in the group yet. They had not been scored against and had never been tested. Today they came up against a team that was technically superior to them and played their hearts out.”

Bermuda finished group 3 with two wins and a draw and will advance to the final, which also acts as a World Cup qualifier.

“I knew that the goals would come, we just had to play our game,” said Cheyra Bell, the team’s captain. “After the draw against Cayman we could have easily dropped our heads, instead we did what I knew, as the captain, that we were capable of, and that is play our hearts out.

“I applaud the entire team. I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to play alongside them. And I look forward to the next round because I believe we can only get better.”

Todd showed her experience in the front line along Aliyah Nolan, scoring the crucial second goal.

“I feel we had a great tournament ... it was definitely a positive outcome for us being the group leaders and advancing to the next round,” Todd said. “I believe the draw against Cayman was definitely a wake up call for us and gave us such the fighting spirit in our last match against St Kitts. As a striker it is always a great feeling to get on the scoresheet as it is one of my main roles for the team, but the goals are more rewarding when the team also celebrates a victory.

“It is very important that we remain humble going into the next round as we will have tougher opposition but I do believe we possess both the experience and quality to be a competitive side in Trinidad.”