SVG Defeat St Kitts 3-1 in Friendly Ahead of World Cup Qualifiers
St Vincent and the Grenadines secured a confident 3-1 victory over St Kitts and Nevis in an international friendly at the Samuel Williams Sporting Complex on Tuesday night, continuing their preparations for next month’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The win was especially encouraging for Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson, who fielded a squad composed entirely of local-based players as part of a strategy to build greater depth and continuity within the national team. Despite the absence of several foreign-based regulars, the Vincy Heat produced a composed and clinical performance.
“We came out a little sloppy,” Hendrickson admitted. “A lot of the guys haven’t played together much because we didn’t have any foreign-based players. It took us maybe the whole first half to really get into the flow of things.”
Following a halftime reset and tactical adjustments, St Vincent and the Grenadines returned with renewed focus and sharper execution.
“We tweaked some things at halftime—talked about what we needed to do differently tactically—and I thought the second half was much better,” Hendrickson said. “We stuck to our game plan and played the way we’re supposed to.”
Azinho Solomon, who opened the scoring, Kirtney Franklin and Malcolm Stewart were the goalscorers for the home team. Gvaune Amory had levelled the scores for the visitors early in the first half before the home side took control in the second.
The win, according to Hendrickson, also served as a valuable benchmark.
