The Lady Jaguars commenced the Concacaf ‘W’ Championship Qualifiers, which also serves as the pathway for the 2023 FIFA World Cup, in the perfect manner, brushing aside lowly Dominica 4-0 last evening at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
Guyana’s starting XI, which featured only one locally born player, comprised Chante Sandiford, Rylee Traicoff, Kayla DeSouza, Ghilene Joseph, Sydney Cummings, Justine Rodrigues, Brianne Desa, Reece Scott, Shanice Alfred, Calaigh Copland, and Annalisa Vincent.
The dominance was clear from the home side and was evident by the resulting statistics following the end of the encounter.
Despite playing 63 minutes with 10 players and a 1-0 advantage following the red card of Scott, Guyana, ranked 90th in the world despite a three-year absence from competitive play, recorded a mammoth 20 attempts which translated into a further two conversions.
The visitors, who are positioned 155th on the international scene, only registered three shots in the entirety of the contest despite their numerical superiority, which is further evidence of the gap between the two nations.
Alfred opened the scoring in the 17th minute, curling a right-footed effort from the left of the field which settled into the right corner.
Vincent then made it 2-0 in the 26th minute, stabbing her sliding effort past the advancing goalkeeper from inside the centre of the penalty box, after latching onto a through pass.
The red card occurred one minute later, as Scott was given marching orders for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity by dragging the opposing player down just outside the penalty box, after initially losing possession of the ball.
A goalkeeping blunder in the 35th minute afforded Guyana the third goal, as Cummings scored with a tame 40-yard right-foot free-kick which inexplicably floated over the head of the custodian and ended in the centre of the net.
Another goalkeeping error transpired in the 64th minute to seal the scoreline, as a speculative left-footed strike from Desa 28 yards out in the right side of the field, bounced past the goalkeeper and nestled into the right corner.
With the win, the Lady Jaguars earned three points. Guyana will now turn its attention to Turks and Caicos on Saturday. The Lady Jaguars have been drawn in Group F of the qualification stage for the Concacaf regional competition.
The other teams in the pool are Trinidad and Tobago and Nicaragua. Only the winners of each of the six groups will progress to the final tournament, alongside automatic qualifiers Canada and the United States.
