IT’S mission accomplished for Vin Blaine and his under-20 Reggae Girls after they clipped Cuba 2-1 to top Group Four of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Women’s tournament. By virtue of the victory the Reggae Girls advanced to the final round of the tournament set for October.

Jamaica finished with maximum nine points from three games ahead of Cuba with six points, Bermuda three and the pointless Curacao finished bottom of the four-team group.

“We went in to the tournament to top the group and go through to the final round of CFU tournament and we did that. I think we did it well,” Blaine told the Jamaica Observer after his team’s come-from-behind victory.

Cuba had stunned the small gathering at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Saturday evening when Ollancey Gainza capitalised on a defensive error and scored in the 41st minute totally against the run of play.

But Jamaica struck back shortly after as the towering 16-year-old Khadija Shaw nodded home from a corner kick in the 44th minute. Substitute Kayla Gray grabbed the winner in the 87th minute.

“Cuba were our toughest opponent. They came and sat behind the ball and that made it a little bit more difficult for us to break them down. We gave up a soft goal and it put pressure on us but the character came though and we won 2-1 and I am pleased with the performance,” added Blaine.

Jamaica and Cuba now join Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Anguilla, St Kitts/Nevis, Suriname and Grenada, in the final CFU round with the top three teams advancing to the CONCACAF round set for January in the Cayman Islands.

Blaine who was recently appointed assistant head coach of the senior Reggae Boyz to German Winfreid Schaefer, saw some positives from the three games and was pleased with the overall performance.

“One of the positives was the inclusion of the under-17 girls who got to participate and they came good to move into their tournament in October. We brought them in to gain some experience,” said Blaine.

He was talking about Khadija Shaw, Konya Plummer, Deneisha Blackwood and Cachet Lue who are all under 17.

It was a pleasing tournament for the coaching staff who saw Oshay Lawes scored six goals and Kayla Gray three in two games. The young Reggae Girls also scored a whopping 17 times while conceding just once in three games.

“We are trying to get them into camp just before the tournament in October. We are also going to bring in some players that couldn’t make this trip that played at the under-20 level last time and shore up the squad,” noted Blaine.