The national female football team known as the Lady Jaguars in preparation for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Olympic Qualifiers lost to a Georgetown U17 select team by 2-4 yesterday at the Leonora Sports Facility in West Demerara.
Donna Joseph gave the Lady Jags the initial lead in the 16th minute, finishing into the empty net after pouncing on a loose ball within the centre of the box.
Their lead however would be short-lived as Kelsey Benjamin scored six minutes later with a well-placed shot into the centre of the goal, from within the centre of the box.
Benjamin then gave the youth outfit the lead in the 27th minute compliments of a finish into the right corner following one-on-one situation, after racing onto a lobbed pass from Jeremy Garrett.
He would then make it 3-1 in the 32nd minute, sealing his hat-trick as he finished through the legs of the advancing ‘keeper within the box following a one-on-one situation, after a solo run which started from his own half past the challenges of several defenders.
Ashley Savona eventually pulled back for the national setup two minutes before the half time interval compliments of a penalty kick conversion into the lower left hand corner, after being awarded the spot-kick following a clumsy challenge inside the box by the custodian.
With both sides opting to reshuffle their line-up throughout the second stanza, the U17 side would find the net once more in the 53rd minute as Andre Trotz scored, volleying into the right hand corner after collecting a lobbed pass within the centre of the box unchallenged.
The Lady Jaguars will feature in another practice match tomorrow at the same venue under the watchful eyes of Head-Coach Mark Rodrigues and his assistant coach Clement Browne.
Guyana is currently placed in group four which will be hosted in the Dominican Republic alongside the likes St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuba.
They will open their campaign against St. Kitts and Nevis on August 21st before ending their campaign two days later against the Cubans.
The Lady Jaguars rose to prominence in 2010 after becoming the first national team from Guyana to feature in a CONCACAF tourney which was the Gold Cup held in Mexico.
Group one of the qualifiers will be staged in Puerto Rico and fields the hosts, Aruba, Haiti and Grenada while Group two will consist of host Trinidad and Tobago St. Lucia, Antigua & Barbuda and the Cayman Islands.
On the other hand, group three will be contested in Suriname and will feature the likes of the Dominican Republic, Dominica and Jamaica.
Unlike the u-23 age limit of the male version for individuals born on or after January 1st 1993, the women’s event does not has such a stipulation. The top three teams from the CFU Qualifiers will progress to the CONCACAF Women’s Summer Olympic Tournament in 2016.
