It was there that the 2010 World Cup qualifying dream was ended. And it was only fitting that Guyana’s Golden Jaguars redeemed themselves in front of their home supporters and on that very ground.
Yesterday before an estimated crowd of 3000 persons the Jaguars roared loudly on three occasions against Dominica in their opening Group B clash of the Digicel Caribbean Championships (DCC) at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence last night.
A Nigel ‘Powers’ Codrington double was followed by another goal from debutant Glenorvan Edmonds as the Golden Jaguars sank their claws three times into their opponents without any response.
Playing their first International match following their 2010 World Cup defeat to their nemesis Suriname, the Jaguars started cautiously even though they controlled the run of play.
The diminutive Collie ’Hitman’ Hercules missed a header directed on the Dominicans far post with their custodian and captain Glenson Prince well beaten by a Dwight Peters cross.
Earlier, it was the Dominicans who signalled their intentions to attack when Kurlson Benjamin’s shot to goal went straight to Jaguars’ custodian Richard Reynolds.
The Jaguars replied with an attack of their own led by the hard working Walter ‘Boyd’ Moore who was feeding the forwards in Hercules, Codrington and Peters often.
It was no surprise when Codrington found the back of the net in the 20th minute after receiving a gem of a pass from Kester Jacobs at the far post.
The goal awoke the killing instinct in the Jaguars who began to make spirited runs at their opponents.
A see-saw battle ensued with Euclid Bertrand and Benjamin trying desperately to pull one back for their country.
They were met with stubborn defence from the Guyanese led by skipper Charles ’Lily’ Pollard and supported by Carey Harris, Jacobs and Howard Lowe.
On the other side of the field, the Dominica defence led by Paul Victor, Eleme Nelson and Prince Austire had to withstand constant pressure from Codrington, Peters and Hercules who were relentlessly attacking their goal.
Debutant Edmonds was having a dream game as he distributed the ball with finesse to his teammates.
When Hercules made a beautiful pass to him as he was making his way forward Edmonds worked his way into the box and calmly patted the ball between the legs of Prince to send the Jaguars 2-0 up in the 36th minute.
At the other end, Bertrand’s header went wide with Reynolds well out of position, whilst Benjamin’s shot was way off the mark two minutes later.
But Codrington did not miss his target after receiving a pass from Peters and when the sound of referee Mark Forde from Barbados signalled the end of the first half, the Golden Jaguars were up 3-0.Action in the second half was similar to that of the first with both teams pressing each other forcing the custodians to work overtime.
Guyana had the opportunity to increase their lead, but once again Hercules’ header went wide whilst Moore could not get his shot off from just at the top of the Dominica’s 18 yard box.
At the other end, Benjamin’s shot to goal was way off target whilst Jerome Thomas’s shot was intercepted by Lowe who was sturdy in defence throughout the game.
Pollard was called to perform overtime duties for his team when he cleared the ball just before the line with Reynolds well beaten by a shot from Lester Langlais for Dominica whose players were beginning to show signs of tiredness.
Guyana won a penalty in the 53rd minute and when Codrington stepped up to take the shot, it was evident to all that the man who was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2007 Digicel tournament would get his hat-trick of goals.
But Prince was equal to the task pulling off a magnificent save which ensured that his team was still down by three goals.
And even though the Dominica players tried desperately to place their names in the scorer’s column, this was not to be as Reynolds and company stood firm at the back for Guyana and, after 90 minutes of exciting football, Guyana’s Golden Jaguars were the victors by three goals to nil.
Group B action will continue tonight with Dominica looking to redeem themselves when they go up against Suriname at the same venue from 1900hrs (7:00pm).