Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
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Fernandes pleased with team’s improvement
Although suffering a 2-1 defeat in their opening encounter against a combined Barbados senior and under-21 national team, Coach Philip Fernandes expressed satisfaction with the performance of the girls, who according to him have shown a marked improvement since their matches in Trinidad and Tobago just 3 weeks ago.
The National Ladies Hockey squad on tour in Barbados line-up just before the start of a match.
“The girls have responded well to the corrections we have made to our game. Hockey is a complicated team sport as there are eleven players on the pitch at the same time from each team and they all need to understand each other. It therefore takes a lot of time and practice to build a cohesive unit that can be successful against international teams who have been playing together for years,” Fernandes said.
He mentioned that the team has been making corrective changes to both their defensive structure and understanding and their ability to control the ball under pressure in defence.
The Guyana Women’s hockey team competed in their first match on Friday evening on the artificial pitch of the Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Centre in Wildey Barbados.
The team is on their second and final weekend training camp on foreign shores as they prepare for the CAC Games in Puerto Rico this July.
The first of their three matches scheduled for the weekend saw the Guyanese girls put up a spirited fight, but lost the encounter.
The Bajans scored first early in the match from a penalty corner tip in, but the Guyanese looked determined to equalise as they controlled the greater possession and kept the play mostly in the Bajan half of the field.
Just before the half, the Guyanese were rewarded with their equaliser as striker Kerensa Fernandes guided home a carefully placed pass into the scoring circle from Cora Towler on the left wing.
Despite some threatening attacking moves from the Guyanese, the Bajans would be the only team to score through a baseline attack on the right wing which was slipped past the advancing Guyanese goalkeeper Natalie Hing.
The team was expected to face another tough challenge against Barbados women’s national team on Saturday evening.
Barbados are ranked 5th in the CAC Games, while the Guyana is ranked 8th.
Fernandes said he expects Barbados, along with Trinidad and Mexico to be the toughest teams to beat in Puerto Rico and values the opportunity to expose his players to such quality opposition prior to the tournament.
The team played the Barbados nationals again yesterday, before returning to Guyana where they will enter the final three weeks of preparation prior to departure for the Games.
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