Bermuda 4
Eva Frazzoni 2; Jya Ratteray-Smith 34, 49; Leilanni Nesbeth 55
Jersey 0
DESPITE a humbling opening 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bermuda, the Jersey FA Women’s coach ‘couldn’t have asked for more effort’ from his side.
The British Overseas Territory play in the CONCACAF region and are very much a nation on the rise in the footballing world.
They use the Island Games as a warm-up event for the Gold Cup, where they compete against the Caribbean Islands for glory.
In what was arguably the toughest game Jersey’s women have faced, they defended with grit, determination and pride for their Island, traits which Chad Morris was pleased to see from his squad.
They must now regroup fast, as they are due to play their second group stage game, against Åland, at 10.30am today. Åland beat Hitra 3-1 to open their 2023 Island Games campaign with victory.
Morris said: ‘They [Bermuda] were a very good outfit.
‘The girls came off and said exactly the same – that it was one of the best teams they have played against.
‘For us, it was a massive step-up in class against a team that compete in the World Cup Qualifiers.
‘You live for opportunities like this and to play against sides that you can gain valuable experience from.’
Bermuda struck twice in each half at The Track for a 4-0 success. However, Morris was full of praise for his side’s discipline, which limited the group favourites to four goals.
He said: ‘They put everything on the line. There were some fantastic last-ditch tackles and Sara Luce made a few wonderful saves to limit the scoreline.
‘The commitment that they played with was great and I never saw any heads drop, even when Bermuda kept scoring.
‘For us, there is no time to dwell on the game. It is now about recovery ahead of the game against Åland.
‘When you have less than 24 hours between games, you really don’t have much time to think about what has already gone.
‘We are fully focused on the next fixture. The girls are more than happy to play again right away and try to make amends.’
Jersey face Åland at College Field today prior to a trip to Blanche Pierre Lane to face Hitra in their final Group 1 game tomorrow.
Jersey FA Women starting XI: S Luce, T Sundby, S Rodrigues, D Da Silva, L Barnett (c), H Muirhead, E Watson, H Campbell, L Morris, N Keen, J Botterill. Substitutes: A Tierney, L Quemard, P Benest, M Wyse, E Doherty, R Flynn, A Tavares.
