B’dos Beach International soccer showcase … Golden Jaguars suffer losses to T&T & England

Feb 12, 2017 Sports, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....osses-to-tt-england/

By Sean Devers in Barbados
On a windy night under lights with the Caribbean Sea in the background the Barbados Beach International Soccer Showcase kicked off at the Brandon Beach in Spring Gardens with Trinidad &Tobago dominating a 5-2 win against Guyana’s Golden Jaguars on Friday.
After Barbados were beaten 3-1 by Antigua & Barbuda the Golden Jaguars, in the last game of the night, suffered their second defeat when they went down 5-1 to England.
Played in three 15-minute periods, Guyana held their own against the talented and experienced T&T line-up in the first stanza with Captain Deshawn Joseph giving Guyana an early 1-nil lead when he beat Custodian Zane Coker to find the back of the net.
T&T are one of the top teams in Beach Scorer in CONCACAF and were not going to be embarrassed by a team with the experience of just two overseas matches in Trinidad. After a slow start the lads from Carnival Country increased the tempo against the Golden Jaguars who enjoyed the better of the early exchanges.
But the Trinis changed gear in the second period and Goal Keeper Coker hammered a bullet-like kick which passed his opposite number, Ethan Spearman, in the blink of an eye, to open T&T’s account.
Michael Wilson found the back of the nets to put the Jaguars back in front, but on an Island where the second largest population is Guyanese, there was very few of them in the fair sized crowd to enjoy the moment.

Beach Scorer is more taxing on the legs due to ‘dead sand’ than on a field and high passes and skill are key factors in this type of sport. The Trinis were superior in those departments and on more than one occasion used the ‘bicycle kick’ to test Guyana’s goal Keeper who did a good job despite what the score line suggested.
With the lads from the Twin Island Republic gaining more of the ball possession and embarking on several raids on goal, the Guyanese team began making technical errors. Kevon Woodley, who netted a brace, and Makam Hislop and Kerwin Stafford with a goal each, ensured their team had three unanswered goals.
But it was not all T&T as Trevon Archibald had Coker scrambling in the thick sand to make a save but in the end the experience of the Trinis prevailed.
The Golden Jaguars did not have things much easier in the last game of the night when they lost to England 5-1 with Kenard Simon scoring the consolation goal for Guyana who were scheduled to face off with host Barbados last evening.
Golden Jaguars Coach Abudulla Hamid told Kaieteur Sports that he was not disappointed in the result against T&T since his chargers held a big team in CONCACAF and were leading twice in the contest.
“Yes we did make some technical errors towards the end of the game but I am satisfied with our performance. We are looking at our weakness and working to improve as we head to the Bahamas,” Hamid disclosed.
The CONCACAF tournament kicks off on February 20, in Nassau and Hamid informed that the team will be going from Barbados directly to the Bahamas.
“Since this format was introduced to Guyana we have been practicing in similar conditions in Linden and hosted Trinidad in Guyana before going to play there twice,” the Coach informed.
He singled out Skipper Joseph, Wilson, Jermaine Grandison and Keon Sears as key players added that all of them were on the two trips to T&T.
“We began the game against Trinidad well and I think we got a bit excited and underestimated their ability to come back hard but I think we learnt from our mistakes. This is the first time we are playing in a tournament with so many good teams and we are learning all the time. The more overseas games we play will be better for us,” said Manager Mark Young. A team gets three points for a win so the Guyanese have not managed a point from two matches.
Skipper Joseph feels that the two defeats exposed what they did wrong and that it was important to learn from their mistakes now before they travel to the Bahamas.
“We have a young team with only four senior players with the experience of playing at this level. We had some problems against England in getting into positions and defending but this is a learning experience for us as we head to the Bahamas,” Joseph said.

The Golden Jaguars flanked by Coach Abudulla Hammid (left) and Manager Mark Young (right