EDINBURG, USA — Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz conceded a brace to Nichelle Prince as they went down 0-2 to Canada in their opening Group B fixture of the Concacaf Women’s Championships, which serves as qualifier to the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup.

It was a solid rendition from the Reggae Girlz who were able to keep the world number five-ranked Canada at bay for most of the game, despite Prince piercing their defensive line in the 33rd and 79th minutes at the H.E.B. Park here on Friday night.

The win saw the Canadians to three points, same as Costa Rica, who had earlier whipped Cuba 8-0 in the Group B curtain-raiser.

Jamaica’s Head coach Hue Menzies lauded his team’s solid defensive posture for the most parts, but lamented their lack of conviction in the attacking third.

“Defensively, I thought we were very good. we were very compact and our line of confrontation was good, but again, there are two sides of the ball so we have to do better attacking wise.

“Scoring goals is the best defence, so that is something that we have to consistently be telling the players — that we have to get forward quickly and then we have to create good opportunities to score goals,” Menzies told the Jamaica Observer in a post-game interview.

Canada’s Head coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller also gave the Girlz high marks for good display.

“We knew that Jamaica was a hard team to beat; they’re very organised and have very skilled players up front. We kept a clean sheet [and] that was important for us, so to start the tournament with a clean sheet and three points, that’s not a bad way to start,” he said.

It was a tentative start by both teams who took their time to settle into their game plans. The Canadians, as expected, seemed more menacing, as the Jamaicans got full marks for stout defensive work and efficient execution of their game plan.

They pulled their defensive restraining line back to midfield and pushed their back line way up, compressing the game to about 30 yards in midfield. That forced the Canadians to try and navigate through a packed midfield or play balls over the top of the defence, neither of which they did very well in the first half.However, just when it seemed as the Girlz were sitting pretty for a goalless scoreline at half-time, a lapse in defence allowed Canada to break the deadlock three minutes past the half-hour mark.

The Girlz failed to clear their lines correctly from a corner kick which resulted in the ball landing in the path of Prince, who made no mistakes from close range.

Nine minutes later Sophie Schmidt was allowed too much space to release a stinging right-footed effort from the top of the 18-yard box, but fortunately for the Girlz, goaltender Sydney Schneider did well to tip over.

But the Jamaicans were not without hope and strategically concentrated on using the flanks to their advantage, creating two openings on the break through Deneisha Blackwood and Trudi Carter, but poor decision-making marred those attacks.

On the resumption, Jamaica stepped up their hunt for the equaliser as Khadija Shaw went on down the middle in the 66th minute and went down inside the area under a double team, but the appeal for a penalty was ignored by Mexican referee Maria Gonzalez.

Canada doubled the lead 12 minutes later when Prince got in behind defenders and tucked a shot past Schneider after picking up a through ball from second-half substitute Adriana Leon.

Jamaica’s best chance of the game came a minute later when the ball fell in the path of Shaw who got a shot off, but Stephanie Labbe was also quick off her line to block the effort.

Teams:

Jamaica — Sydney Schneider, Konya Plummer, Allyson Swaby, Lauren Silver, Dominique Bond-Flasza, Marlo Sweatman, Chinyelu Asher (Sashana Campbell 90+1), Giselle Washington (Christina Chang 85th), Khadija Shaw, Deneisha Blackwood (Jody Brown 71st), Trudi Carter

Subs not used: Nicole McClure, Jadyn Matthews, Toriana Patterson, Ashleigh Shim, Chantelle Swaby

Booked: None

Canada — Stephanie Labbe, Allysha Chapman, Kadeisha Buchanan, Shelina Zadorsky, Rebecca Quinn (Diana Matheson 73rd), Ashley Lawrence, Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Nichelle Prince (Deanne Rose 86th), Janine Beckie (Adriana Leon 66th), Jessie Fleming

Subs not used: Kailen Sheridan, Julia Grosso, Jordyn Huitema, Emma Regan, Gabby Carle, Lindsay Agnew

Booked: None

Referee: Maria Gonzalez (MEX)

Assistant Referees: Caudillo Gomez (MEX); Ivonne Chavez Garcia (MEX)

Fourth Official: Lucila Venegas Montes (MEX)

Match Commissary: Monique Andre (HAI)