GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — St Lucia comfortably defeated Anguilla 2-0 before a home crowd at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground on Sunday night, securing promotion back up to Concacaf Nations League B and a place in the 2023 Gold Cup preliminaries.

The first half of the game, which was played in League C, did not prove to be so easy for the hosts. Anguilla did what they have proven to do throughout this competition — defend well. They were well-organised and their no-nonsense approach was able to keep them in the game.

But the breakthrough came right before half-time. In the 44th minute, a very high cross came towards the Anguillan goal, and goalkeeper Danniell Bailey was unable to punch it away.

Andrus Remy quickly received the failed clearance and coolly finished to put St Lucia up 1-0 and kick off the party in the crowd.

The hopes for an Anguillan comeback were crushed in the 60th minute when St Lucia Captain Kurt Frederick lined up over the ball on a free kick from the corner of the 18-yard box and curled one around Bailey to double the lead.

From there, St Lucia held firm to secure the victory and all the rewards that come with it.

Puerto Rico was also promoted and clinched a 2023 Gold Cup Prelims spot with a 6-0 victory at home over the British Virgin Islands.

The hosts got off to a roaring start at the Estadio Centroamericano de Mayaguez, taking the lead after 12 minutes courtesy of a neatly placed right-footed shot into the corner from Darren Rios. Ricardo Rivera’s low cross earned him the assist.

Jaden Servania was brought down in the box in the 14th minute, and Rivera would join in on the scoring himself, converting the penalty to put Puerto Rico ahead 2-0.

In the 31st minute, the hosts further added to their tally with a beautiful team goal. Kevin Hernandez passed to Nicolas Cardona, who made a one-touch feed to Gerald Diaz, who poked it past British Virgin Islands goalkeeper Daniel Gilford.

Thirty-nine minutes had gone when Wilfredo Rivera’s chip over Gilford bounced just ever slightly too high, but Ricardo Rivera was there to collect the rebound off the crossbar to tap in for his second goal of the night. In the second half, the home side kept up the attack. This time it was Rios who found Ricardo Rivera at the end of his run and Rivera tapped in for his hat-trick in the 49th minute.

Soon after that, a crafty no-look pass from Ian Silva found Ricardo Rivera again down the middle in the 51st minute for his fourth goal of the game.

Puerto Rico would hold steady for the rest of the match and see things out for the 6-0 win.

Meantime, St Kitts and Nevis maintained their unbeaten record in Group B of League C with a 1-1 draw against Saint Martin after a dramatic late equaliser at Warner Park.

The result means that St Kitts and Aruba sit tied atop Group B with four points each (Aruba currently leads on goal differential), while Saint Martin are third with two points.

Cuba extended their longest-ever Concacaf Nations League winning streak to three matches with a 3-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda.

Both sides have a March date with Barbados and another against Guadeloupe left on the calendar, with promotion and a 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup stop still in play for each.