Despite not getting the desired outcome, Jamaica’s senior women’s football team interim Head Coach Xavier Gilbert says he was pleased with the fighting spirit displayed by the make-shift Reggae Girlz squad in their 1-2 loss to Panama on Wednesday at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.

Ricshya Walker put Jamaica ahead in the 21st minute, but Alika Keene scored an own goal in the 44th minute. Lineth Cedeno scored in the 84th to give Panama the victory in Group B of League A of the road to the Concacaf W Gold Cup.

With the victory, Panama moved to six points from three games and in first place in the group, while the Jamaicans are a foot at the three-team table without a point from two games. The other team in the group is Guatemala and they are second on three points from two games.

“I think we managed to get some things right [as] I think we started off well. I am proud of the ladies for how they acquitted themselves, but credit must be given to Panama for being victorious,” Gilbert said.

“I am happy, and I am pleased with how the ladies executed and managed to get one session [of practice] in the day before, which was one hour, and there wasn’t much we could do. We had to put together a squad in a short time, and so based on those circumstances, I am happy with the way they played, but unfortunately, we couldn’t get something out of the game,” Gilbert added.

The squad that got Jamaica to the knockout round of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand made itself unavailable for match as well as Sunday’s qualifier against Guatemala at the National Stadium, due to what they described as “constant mistreatment” from the Jamaica Football Federation.

Gilbert, on the other hand, stated that the goal is to always have the greatest players available to represent Jamaica at all times. While praising the hard-working players who competed against Panama, Gilbert stated that the hope is to have all players available for the return legs of the Qualifiers.

“The main focus was to try and get some players who were available to come and play. That’s just the reality; players flew in the day and night before the match and played, and I just had to give them credit on short notice for making themselves available to come and represent Jamaica, and I am happy for that. That was the focus — to have a good enough squad to be able to compete — and I was pleased with that.

“The expectation for us is going to be for us to get better for sure. There were still some players who would have made it, but unfortunately, due to other commitments, they didn’t make it, and there are some good-quality players. So the expectation going forward is that the ones who have made their first senior’s debut are going to keep growing in confidence, and so I think we are going to get better as we go along.

“To be honest, the reality is that we hope that we have the best squad to represent Jamaica at all times, and that is our objective. We just have to control what we can control, and hopefully we will have all our players available by November,” Gilbert said.

The Jamaicans had the better start and took a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute when Walker got on the end of a cross from Malikae Dayes and redirected into the net. The Panamanians pressed for an equaliser and were rewarded just before half-time in the 44th minute when Marta Cox got on the end of a through pass and put in a cross from the left side that Jamaica’s Keene headed into her own net to tie the game at 1-1.

On the restart, the hosts really put the heat on in search of goals, with substitute Cedeno and Riley Tanner creating multiple chances. Tanner had a golden opportunity to score in the 80th minute when she avoided the Jamaicans’ offside trap and found herself one-on-one with goalkeeper Aliyah Morgan, but the Reggae Girl gloves woman made the huge save. Panama then got the winner in the 84th minute, when Cedeno took advantage of a loose ball in the area after Jamaica failed to clear a corner kick and shot into the net.

The delegation returned home on Thursday.

SQUADS:

Panama – Yenith Bailey, Wendy Natis, Katherine Castillo, Yomira Pinzon, Schiandra Gonzalez (Deysire Salazar 62d), Ana Quintero (Lineth Cedeno 46th), Marta Cox, Riley Tanner (Natalia Mills 90th), Rebeca Espinosa (Kenia Rangel 62nd), Aidrith Quintero, and Carina Baltrip

Sub not used: Valeska Dominguez, Farissa Cordoba, Dayane Madrid, Sherline King, Carmen Montenegro, Izaura Tryhane, Erika Hernandez, and Whitney De Obaldia

Booked: none

Jamaica – Aliyah Morgan, Malikae Dayes, Nevillegail Able (Lacey Murray 89th), Lauren reid, Chinyelu Asher, Mellissa Johnson, Ricshya Walker (Christina Salmon 89th), Mikayla Dawes, Alika Keene, Zoe Vidaurre, and Davia Richards (Sydine Street 90+3)

Sub not used: Javanae Jones, Shanhaine Nelson, Natoya Atkinson, and Tyesha Nelson.

Booked: Walker (66th), Richards (88th), and Reid (90+1)

Referee: Mirian Leon (El Salvador)

Assistant referees: Kimberly Moreira (Costa Rica) and Kindria Aguero (Costa Rica)

Fourth official: Deily Gomez (Costa Rica)

Referee assessor: Jose Camargo (Mexico)

Match Commissioner: Melaine Matute (Belize)