Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship – Group A ‘Lady Jags’ aiming for clean sweep, play Suriname in last match today from 16:00hrs

Jul 21, 2019 Sports

By Franklin Wilson

There has always been a healthy rivalry between neighbours Guyana and Suriname dating back many years ago and that rivalry is set to be re-ignited this afternoon when the nations face off in their respective final matches in Group A of the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship at the Leonora Track and Field Center.

Flashback! The ‘Lady Jags’ (green) on the attack against Antigua & Barbuda on Monday July 15th, last.

The Dutch team will be hard pressed to keep the ‘Lady Jags’ at bay in their quest to sweep the group having already defeated Bermuda, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Lucia by similar 2-0 margins and are comfortably placed at the top of the group standings with a better goal average than Saint Lucia, the other team to qualify for the round-of-16 with 9 points from three wins and one defeat.
Guyana’s first win came against the highly touted Bermuda and it was the ‘Lady Jags’ first match as a unit having not had any warm up matches prior to this competition. Well, the performance of the team has improved with every minute they have spent on the field in and out of competition and can only get better.
Head Coach Ivan Joseph summed up his charges performance following their shut out of Saint Lucia on Friday night last: “I thought we played well, taking #7 (Saint Lucia Captain) out of the game was our game plan, she’s a very talented player; I thought we executed our defensive strategy really well and the ladies worked really hard.”
He noted that the Saint Lucians is the best team Guyana has faced so far and they did not make it easy for the ‘Lady Jags’.

Lady Jags on the go against Saint Lucia.

Looking ahead to this afternoon’s clash with Suriname, Joseph said that he would be aiming to expose more of the local based players in the match so that they can get a feel of what it’s like to play at this level.
Joseph is calling on the fans to continue their support of the ‘Lady Jags’: “The crowd has made a difference, you feel it when goals are scored and I really appreciate the support out there. We’ll love to have you come out again on Sunday (today) because it makes a difference and the girls really value it.”
Suriname’s #7, Cady Chin-see-chong (midfield) as well as their #10, Orthea Riley (forward) who blasted a helmet-trick against Antigua and Barbuda on Friday night are the two players the ‘Lady Jags’ will keep on their radar to nullify the visitors aim for a win.
The only points the Surinamese have came from their win against Antigua and while they would no doubt be basking in confidence from that match, they would be coming against the best team in the group this afternoon in the opening match from 16:00hrs.
The final match of this group will be from 18:30hrs when Bermuda aims to go out on a high in their clash with Antigua and Barbuda still to record a point.