Jamaica’s young Reggae Girlz opened their Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship account with a dominant display, slamming Bermuda 7-0 in a lopsided Group F encounter at Estadio Olympico Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo on Sunday.

The Jamaicans, who are favoured to secure one of three spots from the group to the knockout stage, started as such, showing very little signs they had only arrived in the Dominican Republic late Friday.

Maya Raghunandanan, 14, one of the youngest players in the tournament, led the Jamaicans with a brace (seventh and 65th minute). Avery Johnson (11th), Tiny Seaton (16th), Tyesha Nelson (47th), Shaneil Buckley (78th), and substitute Natoya Atkinson (83rd) were the other scorers.

With the win, the Jamaicans provisionally assumed pole position of the group, which also includes Canada and the host nation. The latter two were scheduled to meet in the late contest.

The young Reggae Girlz started brightly and quickly asserted their authority, scoring three times inside 16 minutes.

Raghunandanan got things going when she got on the end of a long pass from Buckley and raced into the 18-yard box where she fired past Samantha Davies in goal for Bermuda.

Johnson doubled the lead four minutes later when she slotted home from close range after Davies blocked Seaton’s well-struck right-footed shot from a distance into her path.

Seaton added another with an easy tap in from a Raghunandanan assist.

The Jamaicans continued to apply consistent pressure and should have added to their tally on a number of occasions, but were let down by poor decision-making and a lack of composure.

Still, they maintained their dominance on the resumption and rekindled their scoring form two minutes in when Andrene Smith’s corner bounced kindly for Nelson to tap in at the far post.

Smith, who was a member of the Under-20 team, paraded her experience with another weighted cross which was expertly headed in by Raghunandanan.

With Bermuda offering very little resistance, the young Reggae Girlz used the opportunity to test their range as Smith unleashed a stinging left-footer from over 20 yards out which came back off the crossbar.

However, Buckley, another player who has experience playing at the Under-20 level, was bang on target, her 20-yard right-footed drive sailed past the burly Davies diving full-stretch to her right.

Atkinson, who entered the contest in the 64th, had at least five chances to improve Jamaica’s tally in the latter stages and she squandered all but one.

Much like her brother, Reggae Boy and Cavalier striker Dwayne, Atkinson displayed nippy footwork, dancing through two defenders before releasing a well-struck right-footed drive from just inside the 18-yard box that gave Davies no chance seven minutes from time.

The Girlz will next face Dominican Republic on Tuesday, before closing against Canada on April 28.

The top three teams from each group will advance to the round-of-16, joining pre-tournament qualifiers St Kitts and Nevis, Curacao, Honduras, and Guyana.

At the conclusion of the event, the two finalists and third-place finishers will qualify for the 2022 Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India in October.