The Golden Jaguars, powered by a first half hat-trick from Osaze De Rosario, sealed their place in the Gold Cup Prelims with a 5-3 victory over Barbados in the second leg of their CONCACAF Play-In series last evening at the National Track and Field Centre, Edinburgh, West Coast Demerara.
The result secured a 9-4 aggregate triumph after the first leg, which was hosted in Barbados, ended 4-1 in favour of the Guyanese, in the process sealing their berth in the next stage of the competition, which is slated for 2025.
Guyana’s starting XI for the contest comprised: Quillan Roberts, Jalen Jones, Reiss Greenidge, Liam Gordon, Leo Lovell, Daniel Wilson, Curtez Kellman, Nathan Moriah-Welch, Isaiah Jones, Omari Glasgow, and De Rosario.
The star of the night was Guyana’s striker De Rosario, who netted a spectacular first-half hat-trick to set the tone for the dominance of the hosts.
De Rosario opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a clinical header from close range, capitalising on a perfectly placed headed pass from Jones after a corner kick.
Fifteen minutes later, De Rosario struck again, this time with a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner after a brilliant solo effort on the left side of the box.
He completed his hat-trick on the stroke of halftime, nodding home a cross from Moriah-Welsh following a set-piece situation to put Guyana up 3-0.
Barbados, who recently was promoted from League C in the CONCACAF Nations League, managed to pull one back just after halftime when Thierry Gale (49th) found the bottom left corner with a well-taken strike from the centre of the box, courtesy of Niall Reid-Stephen’s assist.
Guyana further extended their lead shortly after though, as Glasgow’s sublime free-kick curled past the Barbados wall and into the bottom right corner in the 57th minute. However, Barbados refused to back down, with Niall Reid-Stephen slotting home a left-footed effort after a clever assist from Omani Leacock in the 63rd minute to make it 4-2.
The Tridents further narrowed the deficit four minutes later when Gale struck again, unleashing a powerful shot from outside the box that sailed into the centre of the goal after being set up by Ethan Taylor.
Despite the pressure, Guyana held on and sealed the match in style in additional time as Jones (90th+1) fired a stunning left-footed shot from distance into the bottom left corner after a precise through ball from Glasgow during a counterattack.
The win capped a dominant performance by the Golden Jaguars, whose offensive firepower overwhelmed the Barbados defence across both legs of the tie. The victory also highlighted the promise of young talents like De Rosario and Glasgow, who have become pivotal to Guyana’s success on the regional stage.
