The mood isn’t dampened: Benna Girls coach positive despite narrow loss to Suriname

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The Antigua and Barbuda Benna Girls take time out for a photo during a recent training session in Suriname
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By Neto Baptiste

The mood in the Antigua and Barbuda Benna Girls’ camp remains high despite a narrow one-nil loss to Suriname in the Concacaf Road to W Gold Cup in Suriname on Sunday.

Playing at the Dr IR Franklin Essed Stadium, Abdaya Lantveld scored the lone goal of the match in minute 16 after she was brought down in the penalty area.

Coach of the team Astel Joseph said the girls played with heart and have no reason to hang their heads.

“We lost but the mood isn’t dampened. We came back on the bus [to the hotel] and we spoke about it sand we’re in good mood. Next, it’s just to continue preparations for the games in October against Dominica and we’re good for the most part. Our girls put in the work, they left it out there; we’re truly proud of them,” he said. 

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The Antigua and Barbuda Benna Girls take time out for a photo during a recent training session in Suriname

Antigua and Barbuda’s best chance of the contest came in the second half when striker Gabrielle DeSuza managed to rob the Suriname goalkeeper of the ball just on the edge of the 18 yards box, but sent her effort just over the crossbar.

Joseph said they will be working to improve some areas moving forward.

“Satisfied? Definitely. We asked them to go out and give us their all and they did just that, we couldn’t ask for any more. We conceded early to a penalty but we still held our heads high and we carried out the game plan. We were compact, we played good defensively but we just have to work a little bit more on the patience going forward, picking out passes and taking our opportunities, of which we had two. One went narrowly wide and the other went slightly over,” the coach said.

Antigua and Barbuda will host Dominica on October 25.

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