Brave Girlz fall to Costa Rica 3-2
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — Jamaica’s Under-17 Reggae Girlz suffered their second defeat in as many games as they went down 2-3 to Costa Rica in a crucial Group B fixture of the CONCACAF Women’s Championships here at the Grenada National Stadium yesterday.
The Girlz, who led the encounter 2-1 up to the 76th minute, were left dumbstruck when they were overhauled by the Central Americans. In the search for answers, questionable officiating, coupled with faulty shooting, was blamed for the defeat.
The Jamaicans needed at least a point from the contest to rekindle their hopes of securing a semi-final spot after their 8-1 drubbing by powerhouse USA on Friday.
Ebony Clarke (24th) and Tarania Clarke (36th) were the scorers for the Girlz, while Valeria Del Campo (29th), Mereilyn Alvarado (76th) and Maria Paula Salas (90th) were on target for Costa Rica.
The Under-17 Girlz remain at the foot of the four-team standing without a point, while Costa Rica are on three points. Mexico are in second with a superior goal difference despite their 0-1 loss to the USA. USA head the table on six points and have secured a spot in the semi-finals.
Jamaica ended yesterday’s contest with 10-players after Canadian-based Alyssa Julien, who replaced Lyana Steele in the 55th minute, was wrongfully shown a yellow card for a tackle executed by captain Rachel Walters in the 64th minute.
Julien was then shown a second yellow and in the 70th minute and was sent off, triggering a turn of fortunes for the Jamaicans.
The play was halted for approximately 10 minutes as Head Coach Lorne Donaldson and the coaching staff protested Julien’s yellow card, but that only resulted in assistant, Hubert Busby being sent to the stands by Referee Sandra Benitez from El Salvador.
Busby was left disappointed at the outcome of the game after a video provided by CONCACAF officials at the venue revealed that Julien should not have been shown the first yellow card.
There was also a deliberate foul on the part of Villalobos, who held on to the leg of Clarke to deny her from breaking away, but no card was shown and the moderate crowd voiced their disapproval.
“It is obvious that the game was taken away from the players to decide the outcome, so I am not going to get into it much. But with that said, one thing we asked them to do was to go out there with the passion and the spirit of wearing the national team jersey and for that we can’t have any qualms or issue with that and we are very proud of our girls regardless of the final outcome,” Busby told the
Jamaica Observer in a post-game interview.
Earlier, the Girlz, wary that they were faced with a must-win situation, came out positively and pounced pretty early, but a chance in the second minute was muffed by Giselle Washington as the Costa Rican defenders scrambled to clear their lines.
The game was balanced well thereafter as the momentum consistently switched sides, but the Girlz grabbed the ascendancy when Canadian-based Ebony Clarke broke away on the right channel and drove a shot past Akira Rubi in goal for Costa Rica.
The game was back on level terms five minutes later when Del Campo converted from the spot for Costa Rica after Benitez awarded a penalty when Gloriana Villalobos went down inside the area.
However, Tarania Clarke restored the lead when she lobbed a shot over the head of Rubi from outside the 18-yard area to put Jamaica 2-1 up at the break.
The Girlz continued their relentless pursuit of victory and almost went further ahead three minutes into the resumption, but Ebony Clarke’s right-footed shot was tipped over the crossbar.
With the Costa Ricans pressing for the equaliser, their defensive line became vulnerable and Jamaica went on the counter through Shayla Smart. The fleet-footed Smart dismissed a defender and the goalkeeper in the 61st minute, but was hesitant in getting the shot off, which allowed a defender to recover and clear the eventual shot off the line.
The game went downhill for the young Reggae Girlz subsequent to the sending off of Julien and Costa Rica pulled level soon after when Alvarado headed in a well-weighted corner from Valeria Roman.
The Costa Ricans secured all three points on the stroke of full time when substitute Salas slotted home from close range.