Guyana seeking win No. 15
By Edison Jefford
Stabroek News
November 28, 2006
Guyana will look to further cement its place among the final eight teams that will vie for the Digicel Caribbean Cup from January next year when they take on the Dominican Republic at 3 pm today in their final match in group 'H'.
The 'Golden Jaguars' have so far divided the spoils well in the group with nine goals scored in their previous two matches. The local team devastated Antigua 6 -0 in their match last Friday and edged Guadeloupe 3 - 2 in their second match on Sunday.
The jaguars' match today will culminate an excellent run in the preliminary rounds of the tournament for the team so far and is expected to send clear signals across the Caribbean that they are a force to reckon with in the region.
Fifteen consecutive international wins for a country that endured one of the longest losing streaks in the history of international football would be a complete twist of fortune, but that must still be proven today.
As it is now, the jaguars have so far amassed 14 wins thanks to the contributions on the field from the hard-working striker Nigel `Powers' Codrington and his asset in the midfield, the skilful Gregory 'Jackie Chan' Richardson.
The two players seem to understand their roles on the field and never fail to show their seniority and experience among the highly talented 18-man squad. Striker Nigel Jerome and midfielder, Shawn Beveney, have superbly complemented the duo.
The rotation among the midfield and the attack seems to be intact for Guyana, the zone that looks vulnerable from time to time is the back four. However, the Domini-can Republic will not be the team to expose those lapses.
The Dominican Republic snatched a 2 -0 win against Antigua who will face Guadeloupe in the first match at 1 pm today.
The Dominican Republic was trounced 3-0 by Guadeloupe in their first match last Friday.
Guyana's technical director, Jamaal Shabazz stated at the post-match press conference on Sunday that he would not risk playing the injured Guyana captain Charles `Lily' Pollard against the Domini-can Republic today.
The Dominican Republic seems to be a fairly good team on defence up to the 80th minute when the team's vulnerability increases. Guadeloupe scored all three goals against them between the 83rd and 90th minutes in their first match.
However, the Dominican Republic proved that they have the finishing endurance to attack when they netted two goals in the final 10 minutes of their game against Antigua.
The team's coach promised to make some adjustments after the 3 - 0 loss to Guadeloupe and judged from the team's last result against Antigua it seems as if the team have made those adjustments.