Even though the team had less than a week together as a group prior to their first international assignment for the year 2022, Guyana’s senior women’s national football team, the Lady Jags, put in a team effort to pull off a thrilling win against Dominica at the Leonora Track and Field Facility, West Coast Demerara.
The Lady Jags took a lap of honour following their resounding 4-0 victory
Featuring a starting lineup of Kayla DeSouza (C), Chante Sandiford, Rylee Traicoff, Sidney Cummings, Ghilene Joseph, Justine Rodrigues, Shanice Alfred, Analisa Vincent, Calaigh Copland, Reece Scott and Brianne Desa, Guyana contained play to their half of the field and opted to utilise the wings for their advances.
Guyana’s Justine Rodrigues is locked in battle
Soon enough, the Lady Jags were rewarded for their tactical prowess, as Shanice Alfred was spot on in the 17th minute with a kick from the corner of the box. Less than a minute later, the score could have moved up to two with a closer call that went metres askew from the goalpost.
Guyana’s Otesha Charles fending off Dominica’s defence
Ten minutes later, Analisa Vincent made it a 2-0 game with a gorgeous sliding kick, much to the delight of her vast support system in the stands.
In the 19th however, things took a turn when Guyana’s team went down to ten as a result of Reece Scott picking up a red card infraction, after pulling Dominica’s Sari Finn down by the collar in a chase.
The red card did not affect Guyana though, as the Lady Jags maintained their intensity. Their third goal came off the boots of Sidney Cummings, who launched a well-directed free kick over the head of the goalkeeper and into the goal.
With the first half finishing 3-0, the Dominican goalkeeper once again found herself in a predicament in the 63rd, as Brianne Desa angled a shot into the corner of the goal just past the reach of her fingers for Guyana’s fourth.
Guyana’s Coach, Dr. Ivan Joseph, was quite pleased with the team’s victory. He noted that he was grateful for the good fortune.
“I’m grateful for the performance the team put out there, right. Dominica was a tough opponent, they came really hard at us, and today the ball bounced away a few times. So, it’s on to the next game now,” Coach Joseph said after the game.
doing a quick tactical assessment of his players, Dr. Joseph highlighted their almost spot-on execution of their game plan.
“…for days, we worked on some things, some plays through the flank. We worked on making sure our shape was tight. And so, from a tactical point of view, we were pretty sharp. You know, we always like to execute a little better than we did, but I thought we made a lot of our goalscoring opportunities count, and so when you put the early ones away, it opens up the game and allows you to have the freedom to play.
“I was really happy with the way we played, especially in the centre of the park,” he went on to say.
Guyana will take on Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday, February 19, in their next CONCACAF Women’s Qualifier match.
