Goals galore in JWPL opening fixtures

It has been three years since some of the island’s top female footballers got to lace up their boots, and the lengthy layoff may have prompted the Vere United women to come out firing as they hammered Real Mobay AFC 11-0 in their opening fixture of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) at the Wembley Centre of Excellence yesterday.

The huge margin of victory was almost immaterial for both coaches who were just glad that female football was once again a fixture on the island’s footballing calendar.

Vere United coach Dwight Smith, while happy that his team came away with an emphatic opening win, was overjoyed that his charges were once again able to play competitive football.

“The return of the women’s football is very important especially here in Clarendon where we have a lot of talent coming from schools such as Lennon High and Garvey Maceo High. It is really good that we are able to showcase those talents again,” said Smith.

The heavy scoreline didn’t seem to deter losing coach Marvin Peterkin of Real Mobay, who made it clear that women’s football was the clear winner on the day.

“I have a very young team with nine players out of my starting eleven playing competitively at this level for the first time. The experienced team got the better of us, but with football returning again, and my girls able to play more matches, we will get better and better as we take it one game at a time,” said Peterkin.

In the meantime, Dahlia Whyte lit up the scoring charts by netting a four-timer in Vere’s emphatic win. Whyte netted in the 12th, 30th, 57th, and 77th minutes.

Keiba Cowan and Tasheika Hamilton also scored hat-tricks, with Cowan finding the back of the net in the fourth, 28th, and 50th minutes while Hamilton got on the scoresheet in the 33rd, 46th, and 47th minutes. Jully-Ann Howard got the other goal for the Clarendon-based team.

In other opening-round games, Cavalier SC were also in a goal-scoring mood at the UWI/JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence as they hammered Royal Lakes 9-0.

Fraziers Whip edged Olympic Gardens 3-2 at the same venue while Springers United got the better of Baptist Alliance 2-0 at Paul Bogle High School.