CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship hosts Bahamas were 4-1 winners against Guyana in their opening game of the competition on Monday.
The home nation sit top of Group A after the opening round of matches and had a Lesley St. Fleur hat-trick to thank as they picked up maximum points in front a vibrant home crowd against a Guyana side making their first appearance at the tournament.
Having seen an early penalty saved, the Bahamas eventually led through an acrobatic St. Fleur effort and the home side doubled the lead when the forward tucked home his second from the spot.
The Bahamas dominated proceedings for the remainder of the first period - goalkeeper Ivan Rolle clipping the crossbar - but only went in two goals ahead and were unable to add to that advantage in the second as Guyana tightened up significantly at the back.
Guyana almost halved the deficit when skipper Deshawn Joseph rattled the crossbar but things remained delicately poised going into the last 12 minutes.
However, St. Fleur’s second took the game further away from Guyana and, while Joseph got them off the mark, Williams swiftly responded with an expert diving header to wrap up the scoring and put the hosts in a strong position to qualify.
Goals: 1-0, St. Fleur, min. 7 (1); 2-0: St. Fleur, min. 6 (1); 3-0: St. Fleur, min. 10 (3); 3-1: Joseph, min. 6 (3); 4-1: Williams, min. 4 (3);
Match fixtures/results
Monday, 20th February 2017
13.45 - Barbados 4-6 Canada
15.00 - USA 8-1 US Virgin Islands
16.15 - Mexico 9-2 Guadeloupe
17.30 - Trinidad & Tobago 8-1 Antigua & Barbuda
18.45 - Jamaica (0) 5-5 (2) Belize
20.00 - Bahamas 4-1 Guyana
Tuesday, 21st February
13.45 - Guadeloupe v Barbados
15.00 - Costa Rica v Panama
16.15 - El Salvador v Turks & Caicos Islands
17.30 - Canada v Mexico
18.45 - Guyana v Jamaica
20.00 - Belize v Bahamas
Photo credit: Lea Weil/Manuel Queimadelos - beachsoccer.com