Reggae Girlz go down to Mexico in Olympic qualifying opener
EDINBURG, Texas — W hile not faulting his team for effort, Reggae Girlz Head coach Hubert Busby rued the lack of quality in front of goal, which proved their undoing in a 0-1 defeat to Mexico in their Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifiers Group B fixture at HEB Park on Wednesday.
Despite a spirited display in the hard-fought encounter, where they had the better of chances, the Reggae Girlz failed to convert their superiority in the final third into victory, and as such, were left to pick up the pieces.
Renae Cuellar made one of the few chances Mexico had count, as she grabbed the decisive goal in the 36th minute to ensure her team claim all three points.
Mexico occupy second position behind Canada, who earlier hammered St Kitts and Nevis 11-0 in the group’s curtain-raiser.
Those results not only meant that Busby and is team will have to play catch up, but uncertainty surrounded the health of striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, who was taken to the hospital for a possible concussion at the end of the match.
“We fought for 90 minutes, and showed our qualities which is seen as good as one of the things that we’ve been working on is to kind of show our Jamaican spirit and what we’re about and playing with that level of confidence and controlled aggression in the right areas. And I thought that did that.
“But we need to be a little more clinical in front of goal, the game is about taking your opportunities and it was unfortunate that those chances came alot but we didn’t take them. So we have some more work to do in that regards,” Busby told the Jamaica Observer.
“But credit to Mexico, they took their opportunity and I still give credit to my players, because they came out and responded; we were just unlucky, but I’m proud of the group, and like I said, we just need to look at those finer details,” he added.
With Mexico virtually playing in their back yard, they were expected to dominate proceedings in front of of 1,489 spectators.
However, while Mexico hogged possession for most of the first half, it was the Jamaicans who were more assertive in the final third, creating more clear-cut chances, but were unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet.
The Girlz showed good early intent and were denied what seemed a textbook penalty when Cheyna Matthews dismissed a defender, who stuck a leg out and the striker fell inside the danger area.
But referee Ekaterina Koroleva thought otherwise.
Jamaica continued to catch the Mexican defenders out on the break, but to no avail. In a couple of those moves, Olufolasade Adamolekun steered a straightforward header over the crossbar in the 25th minute, after which Shaw’s 34th-minute strike from a solo effort rocketed back off the crossbar.
Jamaica’s misfortunes were Mexico’s gain, as they found the lead two minutes later.
Defender Allyson Swaby, under no pressure, played the ball straight at the feet of an opponent, and in trying to recover possession, conceded a corner.
The Jamaicans failed to clear their lines from that resulting corner and Cuellar, who was left unmarked dead centre of the 18-yard box, drove a right-footed effort along the ground that snuck under the body of diving goaltender Sydney Schneider.
Mexico held a defensive posture on the resumption, which resulted in the Reggae Girlz enjoying a decent bite of possession in the attacking third, especially in the latter stages of the contest.
Like it was in the first half, Mexico only had two openings in Jamaica’s final third in the 50th and 53rd minutes, but nothing to really threaten Schnieder’s frame.
At the other end, the Reggae Girlz came to life in the final 20 minutes and should have pulled level in the 72nd minute when Shaw’s well-struck effort from outside the 18-yard box took a deflection and was only kept out by the outstretched leg of Emily Alvarado in goal for Mexico.
That rebound fell nicely in the path of substitute Tiffany Cameron, who had time and space in the 18-yard box to pick her spot. Instead, she struck the ball straight in the arms of the recovering Alvarado.
And the Jamaicans were again left cursing their luck two minutes from time when Havana Solaun’s weighted free kick was headed on by Shaw into the path of another substitute Kayla McCoy at goal mouth, but the forward, who just required the slightest of touch to convert, missed the ball entirely.
Shaw, going up for a header on the next play, had a clash of heads with a defender and was stretchered off the field in time added.
She was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure and was later said to be in good spirits.
“The spirit, fight, camaraderie and leadership in the team were there, so I don’t have any qualms for work rate and effort, I mean, the execution and again, taking care of details needs improvement, but these are all things that I really feel are correctable and areas in which we need to grow,” Busby noted.
The Jamaicans are now left to play catch up if they are to secure one of two spots from the group to the semi-finals and remain in contention for qualification to the Tokyo Olympics later this year.
But their next assignment will be no easier, as they face Canada tomorrow..
Busby remains positive about their chances of pulling things off.
“On the day anything can happen and we knew, truth be told, we needed to get to two wins to guarantee us a berth and so that hasn’t changed, it just means we have to win our next two games to book our passage to the knockout round.
“So we’ll go back to take a look at some of the things that they (Canada) have been doing and try to nullify some of their strengths and try to use our attributes to play to our strengths,” Busby ended.
Teams
Jamaica – Sydney Schneider, Chantelle Swaby, Havana Solaun, Chinyelu Asher(Trudi Carter 81st), Olufolasade Adamolekun(Kayla McCoy 70th), Khadija Shaw, Sashana Campbell, Deneisha Blackwood, Dominique Bond-Flasza, Allyson Swaby, Cheyna Matthews (Tiffany Cameron 66th)
Subs not used: Alyssa Whitehead, Chris-Ann Chambers, Madiya Harriott, Konya Plummer, Gabrielle Farrell, Tiernny Wiltshire
Booked: None
Mexico – Emily Alvarado, Janelly Farias, Jocelyn Orejel, Jimena Lopez, Rebeca Bernal, Daniela Espinosa, Kiana Palacios ( Liliana Mercado 74th), Renae Cuellar (Adriana Iturbide 63rd), Stephany Mayor, Jacqueline Ovalle (Maria Sanchez 82nd), Bianca Sierra
Subs not used: Cecilia Santiago, Itzel Gonzalez, Kenti Robles, Mariana Cadena, Karla Neito, Diana Evangelista
Booked: Mercado (86th)
Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva, (USA)
Assistant Referees: Kathryn Nesbitt (USA); Felisha Mariscal (USA)
Fourth Official: Tatiana Guzman (NCA)
Match Commissary: Andrea Thompson (CAY)