Latest update February 8th, 2025 6:23 PM
Aug 10, 2017 Sports
Last evening at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, Guyana’s Lady Jags began their historic CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualification campaign with the first of the three Group D matches that will be played in Guyana, at
Guyana’s goalscorer Tiandi Smith (8) and Barbados first goalscorer Caitlin Padmore (10) battle on the touch line for possession.
Leonora; albeit on a losing note, going down to the visiting Barbados lasses 5-1. Before the competition began, the Technical Director of the Guyana Football Federation, Ian Greenwood, had noted that female football in Guyana, “was behind some 20-25 years” and that this tournament will be used as a means to develop women’s football in Guyana.
On Tuesday, during a pre-match press conference, coach of the lady Jags, Akilah Castello had noted that she, “expected a great fight from her team come game day”, and despite the huge score line difference, which doesn’t reflect the level of competiveness of the match, Guyana played with great heart.
In fact, the Lady Jags drew first blood through defender Tiandi Smith. In the eighth minute, Smith sailed a perfect free kick past Barbados goalkeeper Shontee Broomes from about 20 yards out. As expected, the decent amount of Guyanese supporters erupted with cheers, hopeful for a Jaguars victory. Barbados’ Caitlin Padmore then quelled the Guyanese constant ovations when her shot got past Guyana’s goalkeeper Vicky Jonannis in the 16th minute. From that moment it was all downhill for Guyana. In the 20th minute, the Lady Jags were unlucky to concede an own goal through their initial goal scorer, defender Tiandi Smith.
The first half of the match went back and forth with numerous attacking moves from both teams, with Barbados enjoying slightly more possession for the remaining 25 minutes in the half which finished 2-1.
Guyana’s Lady Jags would’ve believed that they could’ve clawed their way back into the game during the second half and rightfully so after the very competitive first half but Barbados came out with a very effective game plan for the second period. That plan was to capitalize on the fact that Guyana’s goalkeeper, Vicky Jonannis, was short, not being able to reach the cross bars. The Bajans bombarded her with many long shots and found success 4 minutes into the second half when their captain, Tia Briggs-Thompson, scored the first of her two long-shot goals. The 49th minute strike was lobbed from around 30 yards out to take the score to a comfortable 3-1 lead.
Within seconds, Barbados snuffed out any scent of a comeback by the Lady Jags with another goal. This time, Tiana Sealy got on the score sheet in fabulous style. Aware of the short reach of the Lady Jags’ goalkeeper, she finished a beautiful right-footed shot from the left side of goal to the right side of the goal in the 50th minute with finesse to take the score 4-1.
The Guyanese didn’t allow the score line to deter them and they continued to fight throughout the remaining minutes in the second half, 11-year-old Jelade Trim showed promise by dribbling past the opposition despite her diminutive stature. However, despite Jags’ fighting spirit being alive, when the Barbados skipper, Tia Briggs-Thompson, scored a powerful shot from half pitch, the Guyanese girls were definitely wounded. Following a substitution in the 71st minute, Briggs-Thompson collected the ball and sent a rocket of a shot almost from the half-way line and the hapless Guyanese goalkeeper, Vicky Jonannis, could’ve done nothing but watch the ball sail over her head for the fifth Barbados goal. The score line remained 5-1 after Briggs-Thompson second strike as the Bajan’s completed a superb comeback victory.
During the post match press brief, the Lady Jags head coach Akilah Castello, explained that the game plan in the first half, “Was to go outward with the breeze but they (the players) weren’t on target, being too anxious most of the times (in build up plays) which allowed them to be broken down in the final third.” Castello expressed some pleasure with the girls who she said, “Were playing their first major game, in addition to being under lights. I’m satisfied with their performance as they fought well to execute the tactics which they had to learn in a very limited time.” The head coach further stated that set-piece play is one of the areas that need to be worked on when they play powerhouses Cuba on Sunday, since they didn’t execute well in that department particularly.
Barbados, who will play the very strong Cuban team tomorrow at 5:00pm at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, will have high spirits after their eventually very convincing 5-1 victory against the Guyanese.
Feb 08, 2025
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