06-24-2009
Guyana’s “Lady Jags” falls to Bethseda FC of USA 3-0
-Finishes second place in T & K Tournament
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| "Lady Jags" before the Final |
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| "Lady Jags" with the Guyanese Supporters |
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The Guyana Women’s “Lady Jags” Football team lost to Bethseda FC of the USA by a score of 3-0 in the final of the T&C Football Festival yesterday.
Both teams had registered comfortable wins in their earlier games against the T&C Select and T&C U20 teams, with Guyana winning both of their games by a 5-0 margin. This game had been very highly anticipated since both teams demonstrated a high level of play in previous games. With the game set for 4:00 pm in hot Turks & Caicos weather, it was always going to be the team with the early advantage and deep bench that would most likely come out with the victory.
Unfortunately for the “Lady Jags”, this is exactly what transpired. Just after the game started Bethseda launched an attack down Guyana’s left side where the defense allowed a cross which was relatively easily headed into the back of the net by the Bethseda FC forward.
With the “Lady Jags” being down so early they immediately regrouped and started fighting back but the Bethseda FC defense was able to hold them off and launch a few attacks on their own.
Guyana suffered another setback when Kayla DeSouza # 8 suffered an injury and had to be taken out for the rest of the game. This was followed shortly after by starting defender Alyssa Budhoo # 19 exiting the game with an ankle injury. This led to immediate pressure from the Maryland, USA number one ranked team, spreading the Jags defense and testing the Guyana goalkeeper on numerous occasions.
The half time whistle sounded with the score remaining 1-0 in favor of Betheseda FC, which could have been a lot worse had it not been for the excellent job the coaching staff did with their players, and system of play adjustments and substitutions. The second half began with Bethseda FC playing a possession game to wear down the “Lady Jags”. This was an effective strategy by their technical staff since Bethseda had a squad of 24 seasoned players at their disposal over the three day tournament while Guyana had a squad of 16 players, of which 2 were goalkeepers and four locally based players. By midway through the second half the “Lady Jags” were playing based on just passion and sheer determination as the heat and injuries, along with playing three games in three days had taken its toll.
Betheseda FC was able to capitalize scoring off of corners in the 78th and 84th minutes for a final score of Bethseda FC 3-0.
According to Technical Director Mark Rodrigues, the T & C tournament was a great start for the Guyana Women’s National Program. “We came into this tournament with the Technical staff never having physically seen most of the squad play, and similarly most of the players were meeting each other for the first time only, upon their arrival in the Turks & Caicos Islands”.
Winning their first two games comfortably then turning in the type of performance they displayed against Bethseda FC was very commendable. It should be noted that Bethseda FC is the number one club in Maryland USA and Region I Premiere League runners-up and boast four USA National Olympic Development players in their squad. They are currently preparing for the USA Regional championships where they are favored to come out on top.
After the game the Guyanese supporters once again swarmed the players with well wishes and words of encouragement. As one fan was overheard saying. “ This is one of the few times recently I feel proud to be Guyanese and was excited to see that this is a Guyana team which represented true GT, all six races that make up Guyana”.
Ashley Rodrigues # 9 was awarded the Golden Boot Award as the top goal scorer of the tournament with 5 goals, and Alison Heydorn # 2 was named the team’s MVP of the Tournament.
Starting-Lineup
Bailey McKendrick - GK
Alison Heydorn
Alyssa Budhoo
Ashley Rodrigues
Ashley Savona
Briana DeSouza
Donna Carvalhal
Kayla DeSouza
Nikkita Persad
Rehana Murani
Justine Rodrigues
Substitutes
Leonie Robinson
Kaitlyn Wong You
Bailey McKendrick
Odessa Rameo
Roxanne Stephen
Tarissa Stanislaus
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