The Guyana Under-15 Football Team continued their winning momentum on Thursday morning, producing an excellent team performance that led to a 2-0 win over the Cayman Islands in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Under-15 Championships.
Guyana’s starting XI against Cayman Islands
With a starting XI comprising of Shavid Hernandez, Tyquan Brummel, Zakeel Flatts, Romel Medas, Brandon Solomon, Kevin Mullin, Rajan Ramdeholl (C), Joshua Kesney, Antwone Vasconcellos, Samuel Garnett and Shoran James, the Guyanese were keen to take notes on their opposition in order to formulate a workable game plan.
Having done this, the small- statured Guyanese team was able to hold off their well-built opponents, restricting them from even getting too close to the goal.
Guyana got to business with a number of close calls, but the first attempt that hit home was a shot by Samuel Garnett in the 41st minute.
The Guyanese youths held on to their advantage into the second half of play, and extended the lead by way of a goal from Captain Rajan Ramdeholl in the 62nd.
Thereafter, the Cayman Islands outfit could not muster a reply to Guyana’s all round dominance, resulting in a win for the Land of Many Waters.
Speaking with media operatives at the conclusion of the game, Head Coach Bryan Joseph said he was very elated about the consistency shown by the team.
“I’m happy with the results today. The boys are happy,” Joseph said.
Disclosing little about the team’s mentality and the game plan going into the encounter, Jospeh reflected on Guyana’s 5-1 win against Bahamas on Tuesday and shared that the Guyanese had kept a close eye on their opponents.
“Coming off the back of our performance against Bahamas, the boys were much more relaxed and confident in terms of how we wanted to play. But in our preparation for this game, we scouted Cayman Islands, and we knew what they brought to the table,” he said.
On a technical note, Joseph was also pleased with the youngsters’ abilities to improve their ball possession, as compared to their 3-0 loss to Nicaragua in their opening game.
“I think that they weren’t prepared to deal with the different options that we had in terms of playing out of the back, and we managed to play our style of football. And I think we would have dominated possession for the most part. When we didn’t have possession, I think we did well to retrieve the ball,” he explained.
Joseph was satisfied that the team has seen significant improvements.
“Obviously, that first game against Nicaragua, when we were nervous and the boys didn’t play very well, that has cost us; because I believe Nicaragua is going to win the group. But we’re happy with the performance, it looks like we’re improving from game to game,” he said.
Although Guyana has won two games, similarly to Nicaragua, the latter has won the group based on goal difference, after defeating Guyana 3-0 and the Bahamas 4-nil on Thursday, giving them a goal difference of 7.
Guyana fell short by one, with a goal difference of 6. As such, the Guyana Under-15 team will play another game, against Group G’s second- placed team, St. Kitts and Nevis, on August 9 (today) at 9am.
Having thus explained, the Head Coach expressed hope that the team would be able to end their stint in Florida with another win.
“We’ll go forward and try to win that game also, and come back home with a 1-and-3 record (one loss, three wins), which I think will be a fantastic achievement for this group,” he said.
