BROOKLYN, New York, CMC – Jamaica pounded Guyana 4-1 Sunday to record their second victory in as many games in the 2009 New York Caribbean Football Cup at Jefferson High School.
A hat-trick of goals by striker Ryan Reid put the match beyond the Guyanese.
Reid found the back of the Guyanese net in the fifth, 58th and 88th minutes, while Danny Shaw registered Jamaica’s other goal in the 35th minute.
After Reid gave the five-time champions the early lead, Jermaine Smart found the equalizer for Guyana in the 25th minute, blasting in a free-kick from 30 yards. The ball ricocheted off the crossbar and into the goal.
Ten minutes later, Shaw regained the lead for Jamaica, hammering a left footer past Guyana’s goalkeeper Adrian Alfred.
After ending the first half 1-2, Guyana’s hopes in finding the equalizer in the second half quickly evaporated when Reid connected on a cross from Irvino English from the left flank, nudging past Alfred.
Reid then drilled home a fourth goal two minutes from the end to complete the emphatic win.
“I feel elated,” Jamaica’s coach Shell T. Robinson, told CMC Sport in a post-match interview.
“The guys played very, very good, top-notch soccer. The Guyanese gave us a good fight, but we prevailed,” he continued.
Guyana’s coach Sam Bunbury said his players failed to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities.
“We had a very good start,” he said. “We missed a lot of opportunities. They [Jamaica] executed well, being an experienced team,” he added.
It was Jamaica’s second victory in as many matches. In their first match two weeks ago, they trounced last year’s cellar-placed team Dominica 3-0.
In Sunday’s first game of a triple header, Antigua and Barbuda defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 for their second win.
Antigua and Barbuda’s goals were shared by Akeem Grant and Okeem Challenger as they added to their May 31 victory over Haiti.
St Lucia were handed their first three points of the competition by a defaulting Colombia contingent – arriving late for their duel.
This Sunday’s matches feature Dominica opposing St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Guyana challenging Grenada, and Haiti battling last season’s runners-up St. Kitts and Nevis.
