Reggae Girlz injury issues have led to growth - Busby

ALTHOUGH THE two nations are fierce rivals, the Reggae Girlz are set to face Trinidad and Tobago in senior women’s football for the first time in seven years when they take to the field today at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

The Girlz will face off against the twin-island republic in an international friendly with kickoff set for 7 pm Jamaica time.

It will be their first meeting since 2018 when they last met in the Caribbean Zone of the Concacaf Women’s Championship qualification.

Jamaica ran out dominant 4-1 winners over Trinidad at the National Stadium, with a brace from Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and a goal apiece from Giselle Washington and Jody Brown.

Since that time, the two teams have only met at junior competitions, with their last meeting a 3-1 win for the Jamaicans in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) U14 Girls Challenge Series in August.

Hubert Busby Jr, head coach of the Reggae Girlz, will be relying on a squad mixed with experienced and young players.

“We’ve used the opportunity to maintain core players when players aren’t available due to injury or personal reasons. We’ve respected that heading into other games and it’s allowed for us to build our core group of players,” Busby had said when naming his squad.

“You’ve seen a lot of those players participate in some really big matches where they’ve gained some really valuable experience.”

Several key players were omitted from Busby’s initial squad, including ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Tottenham Hotspur’s Drew Spence, and Club León Femenil’s Trudy Carter due to injuries and personal reasons.

Busby was also forced to make several last-minute changes due to injuries in their camp last week.

Rebecca Spencer, Atlanta Primus, Vyan Sampson and Shania Hayles have all fallen out of contention.

They have since been replaced by Mia Mitchell, Lola Nesbeth, Serena Mensa and Ricshya Walker.

It is a first-time call-up for Nesbeth, who represents the Chelsea Women’s U21s, and has recently returned from a year-long injury.

For Jamaica, the friendly will be their final ahead of the Concacaf W Qualifiers where they are draw in Group B, alongside Guyana, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda.

For Trinidad, it will be an uphill battle as they look to rebuild their women’s football programme ahead of the W Qualifiers.

This will be their first international fixture in just over a year, following a hiatus and without a head coach.

The programme was handed a heavy blow as experienced coach Angus Eve, who was appointed head coach in September, resigned from the post last week, after just 21 days in charge.

With Eve’s departure, the team will be guided by Damian Briggs and Densill Theobald, who had been appointed as Eve’s assistant coaches.

Briggs said the programme is in a rebuilding phase and believes the game against Jamaica will be a stern test of their current standing.

“At present, we are in a rebuild stage with the team which comprises experienced and young players. Our immediate focus is the preparation for the Jamaica friendly on Tuesday,” he said.

“After the Jamaica match, we will reflect collectively and try to improve on all elements from the game before switching our focus to preparations for the first qualifying game against Barbados at the end of November.”

Trinidad are drawn in Group F of the W Qualifiers, alongside El Salvador, Honduras, and Barbados.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com