CATHERINE HALL, St James — It did not take Asia Lee-Fatt and her teammates long to win over the hearts of the decent Jamaica crowd that turned out at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Wednesday as they opened their CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship against an overwhelmed El Salvador team.

The hosts dominated their Central American counterparts and could have led by three goals after the first half, but it was the Florida-based Lee-Fatt’s two goals that made the difference at the end as the Jamaicans hunt a first-ever girls FIFA tournament berth.

Like their age-group male counterparts in 1999 and 2011, qualifying in tournaments played here in Montego Bay, the girls are hoping the western city is their doorway to the World Cup in Costa Rica next year.

In a post-game interview, Lee-Fatt told the Jamaica Observer she was nervous at the start. “At the beginning I was very nervous but eventually we settled down,” she said.

Lee-Fatt added she did not hear the roars of the crowd as she and her teammates ran rings around the El Salvador team at the start.

“I did not really hear the crowd… I kinda blocked them out to make it easier to focus on the game,” she said.

While a number of those fans who turned up admitted they did so out of curiosity, the team apparently won their hearts and they will be expected to return tonight for the crucial game against Haiti where Lee-Fatt will again hope to get on the score sheet.

“It felt good on opening night to score two goals,” she beamed, while pointing out that while she was born in the USA, both “my parents and all four of my grandparents are from Kingston”.