That's more like it! - Jamaica Women beat Puerto Rico 2-0, coach pleased

National Women's hockey team coach Christine Bartley is praising her team's discipline in its 2-0 win over Puerto Rico in their Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games qualifier at the JN Hockey Field yesterday.

Although the Jamaicans won 3-0 against Panama on Monday, Bartley was not pleased with the performance, saying that the team's display lacked discipline and did not stick to the tactics she had planned. They followed up that win with a 0-0 draw with Guyana on Wednesday.

However, she was all smiles after yesterday's win, saying that the team followed her instructions exactly as she had wanted.

"It was a very good performance," Bartley told The Gleaner. "We stuck to our game plan and were very patient. We did what we practised in terms of distribution of the ball, moving into space and of course executing - scoring goals."

Bartley was not bothered by the smaller margin of victory against the Puerto Ricans, saying that they were a tougher team to face than Panama.

"They are a more organised and disciplined team," she said. "Both Guyana and Puerto Rico would probably be on the same level in terms of being organised, being disciplined and also having key players who can execute at different areas on the field."

The Jamaicans have advanced to the final where they will play either Bermuda or Guyana, but Bartley is still looking to improve, ahead of that fixture on Sunday.

"We still need to work on our penalty corner attacks, and of course, our movement on and off the ball, especially in the last attacking 23 (minutes of the game). Those are areas where we will spend some time (in training) to make sure we improve as we go along in the competition.

Shana-Kay Tullonge and Debbie Nicholson got the goals for Jamaica against Puerto Rico. They meet Bermuda on Saturday at the same venue at noon. The Bermudans are looking to get into the final ahead of Guyana, who meet Guatemala earlier in the day at eight.

Jamaica's men's team were also scheduled to play Guatemala yesterday, but the game was postponed until this morning at 8:30 because of persistent rainfall.

The two finalists among both the men and women will qualify for next year's CAC Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.