Jamaica ended any hopes the Guyana rugby team, commonly known as the Green Machine, had of repeating their 2010 gold medal winning run, with a defeat in the quarterfinals of the Central America and Caribbean Games in Columbia yesterday.
Jamaica recorded a 15-10 win after the contest was equally poised at the halfway stage, but thanks to Samuel Caven’s try in extra time, the South American team were eliminated from the tournament.
Oshane Edie took Jamaica to the front with a try in the fifth minute before Godfrey Brooms quickly equalized in the sixth minute to keep the contest alive in the first half.
Tyler Bush managed to secure a try seconds into the second half, as Jamaica looked set to advance, but Guyana was not giving up without a fight, and Ryan Gonsalves managed a try in the 15th minute, to send the contest into overtime.
Earlier, Guyana advanced to the quarterfinals after edging Colombia 14-12, in a come-from-behind stunner.
The win was due mainly to Patrick King who secured two tries and Brooms with two conversions.
Columbia had raced to a 12-nil lead, with Jose Diosa and Andres Alvares sending two tries down the field.
However, King and Brooms refused to allow Guyana to go down easily, and took the second half by storm to send Guyana into the next round.
The Green Machine will now play a demoralized Guatemala squad, in their 5th-7th placing match, who received a 24-nil thrashing from Columbia.
