Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz recorded their second victory from as many games in the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifiers after beating Grenada 6-1 on Sunday.
In a game played at the Kirani James Stadium in St George’s, Captain Khadija Shaw (45th+5 and 90th) and wily forward Jody Brown (42nd and 55th) hit braces, to add to other strikes by Tiffany Cameron (28th) and substitute Alika Keene (73rd).
Captain Roneisha Frank got Grenada’s consolation in the 52nd minute.
But the Reggae Girlz remain in second place in the five-team Group C on six points, on goal difference to the Dominican Republic, who also sit on six points.
However, the Spanish-speaking Dom Rep boast a goal difference of 13 after defeating Grenada 9-0 on their first outing, before following up with a 4-0 defeat of the Cayman Islands in their second game.
Jamaica had defeated Bermuda 4-0 in their first game last Thursday inside Kingston’s National Stadium, for a goal difference of nine.
But the Reggae Girlz, finalists at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in France, are the seeded team, and many had expected them to romp to an easy passage to the next phase, but after two games, they are anything but convincing.
Despite Head Coach Vin Blaine claiming this is potentially the best national team ever, featuring at least nine players with World Cup Finals experience, it has been patchy and tentative in its build-up plays.
Blaine rued the number of missed chances on Sunday and is now concerned about the possibility that his team could come under pressure if they don’t address the goal difference issue with the Dominican Republic when they visit the Cayman Islands on April 9.
“I thought that we got some looks at goal where we didn’t capitalize on them. But it is a situation now where we (could) go into the game against the Dominican Republic and may be forced to win, and they could get a draw (and go through),” Blaine said. “That is the difficulty that we are facing, but we have to try and make it up in the next game.”
Jamaica will close out the group play on April 12 when the Dominican Republic calls. Only the group winner advance.
The Reggae Girlz struggled as they did in the first game to break down an inferior host team, and it was not until near the half-hour mark when Shaw broke free on goal but was forced wide after rounding the goalkeeper. The Manchester City striker kept her composure to set up Cameron, cutting in from the right, who made no mistake with a strike on goal.
The powerfully built Shaw applied silky-smooth skills in setting up the second as she gracefully flicked the ball over the head of an onrushing defender before releasing a “no-look” pass into the path of Brown breaking forward on the left.
The tiny player dribbled forward before tucking the ball home.
Shaw added the third in first-half stoppage time when she powered past her marker on the right before composing herself to blast home left-footed from close range.
Blaine had identified defense as the central area of concern and would have received urgent attention. But sadly, if anything, the Reggae Girlz appear more disorganized than ever before.
Therefore, there was no surprise when Frank effortlessly weaved her way into a shooting position past two poorly placed defenders to send her home crowd wild with a well-deserved goal.
But Brown made sure that there was not too much of a lift for the home side when she responded immediately to restore the three-goal cushion by lifting the ball over the head of the goalkeeper, who made a hash of what should have been an easy save.
Keene then blasted a long-distance shot into the goal to make it 5-1 before Shaw completed her brace when she headed home a right-sided cross from Olufolassade Adamolekun on the stroke of full time.
“We started off a little tentatively, but you have to give it to Grenada. They got nine in the first game, and they came here with a different mentality,” Blaine said.
