Two goals from Rihanna Cyrus helped Barbados Under-17 girls to come from behind and win 3-2 against a touring Tobago Under-13 boys football team this afternoon at the Tobago head coach, Brian Browne, told Barbados TODAY that the team was on tour through an initiative by the Tobago Football Association.
“It’s a development programme where we try to expose the youngsters at a young age and give them some travelling experience and playing amongst people in different travelling conditions on these surfaces.
Barbados defender Nashandi Clarke (left) tackles Kylon Brathwaite of Tobago. He opened the scoring. (Pictures by Morissa Lindsay)
“We don’t have artificial surfaces like this in Tobago so this experience is really good for us and we can benefit a lot more from it in the future,” explained Browne, who added he was pleased with the level of competition and looked forward to be back with the team whenever the opportunity presented itself.
The game was played for thirty-minute halves and Tobago striker Kylon Brathwaite opened the score via a penalty kick. Then, a couple seconds before the first-half concluded Quincy Winchester volleyed one past custodian Shai Carrington. Tobago certainly had the advantage but that would not last long as the home girls responded well after the break.
Rihanna Cyrus (with ball) scored two goals for Barbados.
Cyrus made an immediate impact after the whistle to start the second period when she Cyrus maintained her form and managed to level the game at 2-2 thanks to a combination with Felicia Jarvis. Jarvis came on late in that half and got down to business right away with a superb cross to Cyrus who had no problem in finishing off the job.
Jarvis also got her name on the score sheet when Tobago keeper Carrington misjudged a ball that went over his head and Jarvis who got in behind him, made them pay for the error with a touch into the bars.
Quincy Winchester (No.6) scored Tobago’s second goal.