Golden Jaguars roars to historic win.
By Rawle Welch (Kaieteur News).The setting was perfect, a packed National Stadium with fans decked out in yellow and Guyana’s ‘Golden Jaguars’ did not disappoint, beating the highly touted Trinidad and Tobago’s ‘Soca Warriors’ 2-1 last evening to advance to the third round of the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifiers for the first time.
UK-based Ricky Shakes, who plays professionally, opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a magnificent volley that crashed into the far corner.
It came from a corner that saw an attempted clearance land in his path and without hesitation swivelled and hammered his effort past a surprised Marvin Phillip.
The Jaguars continued their relentless attack in the Trinidadians half for the better part of the opening half and had a few more opportunities to stretch their advantage, but Phillip’s brilliance denied time and again.
Buoyed by the support of the home fans and their early success, the Guyanese defenders marshalled by the experienced Charles ‘Lily’ Pollard kept the dreadlocked Stoke City star Kenwyne Jones on a close watch and even though the strategy of the Warriors was to feed the ball into him, Pollard and company were equal to the task.
Jones with the reputation in the Premiership of a deadly header was becoming increasingly frustrated with the robust defending of the Jaguars backline with Kayode McKinnon, Walter Moore and Charles Newton offering admirable support.
Dwain Jacobs, Cort, Gregory Richardson and Shakes kept the Trinidadian defence busy with some wonderful interchanges and Jacobs missed a solid chance to add another goal before the half, his tame attempt going straight at goalkeeper Phillip.
Richardson too was guilty of missing an opportunity shortly before the half when he dribbled past two defenders, but his stinging right footer sailed agonisingly outside the left upright.
It was a reprieve for the visitors. The half came with no team managing to add any further goals.
On the resumption, The Warriors pressed relentlessly for the equaliser, but once again Pollard stood tall, repelling the challenges of Jones and company much to the delight of the thousands of spectators that filled the arena.
The Trinis pressure was unremitting and it took some sturdy defending along with some magnificent stops from goalkeeper Ronson Williams to keep Guyana in the ascendancy.
Jones was looking the high calibre player that he is and executed some wonderful passes with the skilful Lester Peltier, who was creating some bother for the Guyanese, but as was the order of the day, the Jaguars wall stood firm, sealing every crack that the Warriors tried to exploit.
T&T won a free kick just outside the 25-yard box, but Akenaton Edwards’s powerful strike sailed harmlessly over the crossbar, giving Williams no trouble.
Shortly after, Jones won a free kick, but his shot went straight into the safe hands of Williams as the capacity crowd roared with delight.
Guyana was beginning to find second gear and got the cushion they were looking for when Leon Cort came from defence off a counter attack reached on to the end of a long pass and outran his markers, before rounding the goalkeeper and hammering a shot into the empty goal.
That came in the 81st minute of play.
It literally took everything out of the Warriors, except for their star Jones and he earned some solace for them when he stepped up to take a free kick that was awarded two minutes into injury time and his shot ricocheted off a Guyanese defender, wrong footed Williams in the process and landed at the back of the net.
It, however, was a little too late as shortly after the final whistle sounded giving the Jaguars a well deserved victory.
Following last night’s famous win, Guyana has now stepped into rarefied air, joining eleven other contenders in the hunt for six spots in the fourth round. The Golden Jaguars will be in Group B with the highest ranked CONCACAF side, Mexico (22), Costa Rica (62) and El Salvador (82). Guyana’s current world ranking is 97th.
The other eight qualifiers in the two remaining groups are: Group A – USA (34), Jamaica (50), Guatemala (99) and Antigua and Barbuda (90) and Group C – Honduras (57), Cuba (100), Panama (53) and Canada (83)
The third round fixtures will be played between June 8 and October 16, 2012. Six teams – the top two in each group – will advance to Round Four, which will be played between February 6 and October 15, 2013. The top three from the fourth round will qualify automatically for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, while the fourth place will play in an Intercontinental playoff to possibly join them.
Meanwhile, among the distinguished guests who attended the game was President Bharrat Jagdeo, Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, members of the Diplomatic Corps and other notable personalities in the society.
Acting President Franklin Wilson speaking with Kaieteur Sport said he was lost for words, but commended the Jaguars for a determined display against worthy opponents.
He added that the camaraderie and discipline displayed by the players was exemplary and thanked the technical staff for their work as well.
“We knew that something special was in the making and as you saw it happened,” Wilson stated. He extended thanks to the fans, Government of Guyana and the corporate community for their support.
Guyana’s goalscorers Leon Cort and Ricky Shakes pose for a photo op following the completion of the game.