Jamaica’s Senior Women’s football team head coach Lorne Donaldson is firmly of the view that the Reggae Girlz are on the right trajectory following their elimination from the CONCACAF Paris 2024 Olympics Playoff.
The Jamaicans lost the two-legged tie against Canada 4-1 on aggregate after the Canucks eked out a 2-1 victory in the second leg inside BMO Field in Toronto on Tuesday.
Canada, the reigning Olympic Games gold medallist, had won the first leg 2-0 inside Kingston’s National Stadium last Friday.
The North Americans thus earned the privilege to try to defend their title in Paris next year. They also booked their ticket to next year’s CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup Tournament, while condemning Jamaica to the W Gold Cup Qualifying Group A which includes Panama and Guatemala.
The three teams will play home and away starting October 25 with the Reggae Girlz facing Panama away. The winner books an automatic place in the W Gold Cup, while the runner-up earns another shot during a playoff next February.
Pedigree coming through the ranks
“Whatever happens from here, the team, with all the situations, is in a good place with some of the young players that we start to show and put on the field,” Donaldson told the media following Tuesday’s loss.
“I thought the young players gave a good account of themselves, so the future is bright for the team, and hopefully we can keep this group together and in the future, whoever has them, will have a pedigree coming through the ranks…”
Donaldson, who was an assistant coach when the Reggae Girlz qualified for their historic first FIFA World Cup appearance in 2019, and the head coach when the team made it a second time last year, has come to the end of his contract with the local governing body, the Jamaica Football Federation.
He had said prior to the two-game playoff tie against Canada that he had not yet been contacted in this regard, but a television report in Jamaica on Wednesday night suggested that a meeting is imminent.
In Tuesday’s game, Donaldson and his technical staff were forced into five changes from the team which started in the first leg in Kingston.
Captain and ace forward Khadija Shaw failed to recover from an injury, while defender Konya Plammer, defensive midfielder Vyan Sampson, forward Chenya Matthews and winger Jody Brown lost our, and were replaced by Kayla McKenna, Kameron Simmonds, Chantelle Swaby, Paige Bailey,and Tiffany Cameron.
Spence puts Girlz ahead with spectacular free-kick
Ace midfielder Drew Spence gave Jamaica the lead via a spectacular free-kick on 33 minutes, only for Cloe Lacasse to equalize with a firm header six minutes later.
And five minutes into the second half Jordyn Huitema secured the win with another headed goal.
Donaldson, a former Jamaican international, basically admitted that there was not much more his young side could do to turn the tie around.
“We did what we could do by just applying pressure; it was an end-to-end game and they scored a crucial goal, a set-piece [from a corner] that we haven’t given up for a long time,” the coach bemoaned.
“Then the second goal they scored, coming back, it was a little bit of a misfortune the way the ball bounced, instead they got it in the box [penalty] and finished,” he added.
It was Canada’s 11th win in 11 attempts against Jamaica, registering 64 goals for and merely two against.
Read more about Reggae Girlz from CNW
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- Reggae Girlz to play Canada on Friday in Olympic Qualifier
- Reggae Girlz to benefit from $25m injection from Jamaica Olympic Association
- Jamaica Olympic Association’s Samuda makes rallying cry for Reggae Girlz
