NCN

Golden Jaguars lose to Soca Warriors

Guyana’s Golden Jaguars suffered their first loss of the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 Qualifying competition in their final Stage Two game, going down to Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca Warriors at the Hasely Crawford Stadium 2-0 last evening. The under strength Guyana team without six of their starters playing against T&T full strength side still managed to put up some stiff resistance as they kept the home team at bay for the most part.

Stand-in Captain Leon Cort, along with seasoned campaigner and former Captain Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard, Walter Moore, Jake Newton and Goalkeeper Richard Reynolds were the only senior men on field and along with the young guns which included, Dwain Jacobs, Anthony Benfield, Vurlon Mills, Dwight Peters, Travis Grant and Christopher Bourne who also wore the Captain’s armband in friendly matches against Barbados earlier this year.

The ‘Golden Jaguars’ who had already booked their place in the crucial third-round and teams such as Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador kept the up temp Soca Warriors at bay for the entire first half of the game which was witnessed by a handful of spectators which included many Guyanese who had traveled to the Twin Island Republic to urge their heroes on. Trinidad threw their best at the Jaguars who played a patient game. The second half saw the home team coming out all guns blazing as they sought a win consolation win against opponents which wounded them last Friday before a capacity crowd at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Guyana made their first change one minute into the second half, Canadian based Taylor Benjamin making his International debut when he replaced veteran Charles Pollard. T&T’s Captain Kenwyne Jones who netted his country’s lone goal in Guyana was the man who broke the deadlock with a powerful shot from just outside the box in the 58th minute. The goal came after one of the many good buildups by the home team, the goal drawing a rousing round of applause from the fans.

Two minutes later Guyana made its second change when England based Alinani Mounter was introduced for Anthony ‘Natural Black’ Benfield. Three minutes later, midfielder Lester Peltier who had been enjoying a good game dribbled his way from midfield into shooting range before unleashing a well directed shot past goalkeeper Reynolds to double the advantage for the Twin Island Republic. Nonetheless, the Guyanese continued to hold their own despite T&T enjoying the better of the exchanges.  Exposure was what the Technical staff wanted to get for some of their players who have been in the squad from the start of the Group Two campaign.

Colin Nelson who plays with Caledonia AIA in the Trinidad Pro League came in for Vurlon Mills in the 68th minute while Kenwyne Jones who plays for Stoke City in the English Premier League went off to a applause ten minutes to lemon time being replaced by Hayden Tinto. The Jaguars played much more freely in the final 15 minutes and did not allow any more goals which meant the game ended 2-0 in favor of the Twin Island Republic which ended second to Guyana in the group.

Commenting on the performance of his charges after the game, Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz said that exposing some of his younger players would have been a factor for the eventual result but all in all the guys give a good account of themselves even though they certainly didn’t set the world on fire. He said that the Trinidad team was superior on the day. The inspirational coach noted that the local based players would need lots of matches to get themselves up to the required level that is needed to compete at this stage, the match fitness wasn’t there.

“A lot more tactical work is also needed. We will develop a proper plan for the next stage; we would need funding in order to be successful so I am calling on corporate Guyana to get on board with us.” Shabazz also stated: “You know all the people who have been crying for progress in Guyana football, the progress has come so they need to come from the sidelines now and play their role in supporting this team that belongs to Guyana.”