l GROS ISLET

Guyana and St Vincent and the Grenadines have both advanced to the second round of the Caribbean Cup after convincing victories on Thursday night.

Guyana, which recently rebounded from a ten-match losing streak, defeated host St Lucia 3-0, while St Vincent and the Grenadines hammered Curacao 4-0.

The results left Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia finishing with six points each in Group Two.

However, the "Golden Jaguars" topped the Group with St Vincent second, based on goal difference in the matches between the three teams.

Guyana will join hosts Grenada, Haiti and French Guiana in Group Six on November 14-18, while St Vincent advanced to face Cuba, hosts Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname in Group Eight on the same dates.

Vurlon Mills, who scored in the first minutes of Guyana's 2-1 win over Curacao on Tuesday, scored twice in the first half to pace Guyana past St Lucia.

Mills found the nets in the 14th and 34th minutes to take Guyana to a 2-0 lead over St Lucia, while Gregory Richardson, who had a penalty against Curacao, added the finale in the 37th.

In the nightcap of the double header, Cornelius Stewart had a pair of goals to lead St. Vincent over Curacao.

Stewart put the Vincentians ahead in the eighth minute and then added his second in the 76th, taking his tally to five goals in as many games.

Dorren Hamlet also converted in the 58th and Myron Samuel added another in the 78th—his third in four games, to finish St Vincent with a zero goal difference between the three group leaders, enough to edge out host St Lucia, which finished with -2.

Two teams from each of the three second-round groups will advance to the Caribbean Cup finals in Antigua & Barbuda, with four teams eventually qualifying for next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup. —CMC