Jamaica missed out on a chance of six group wins as they dropped points for the first time in their Group C, League B of the Concacaf Nations League with a 1-1 draw with Guyana. The game was played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Monday night.
The result saw Jamaica finish atop the group with 16 points, scoring 21 goals and conceding only one in the six games.
Javon East got the second-half equaliser for the Reggae Boyz after Emery Welshman gave Guyana a first-half lead. He could have given Jamaica the early lead from a low cross down the right side, but his shot from inside the six-yard box kissed the outside of the far post.
Jamaica’s Akeem Chambers was forced to make his first save of the game in the 31st minute after a 15 minute period of domination by Guyana.
The Reggae Boyz came close to taking the lead going into the break, but saw all three of their shots in the 43rd minute blocked. Two minutes later, the Guyanese breached the Jamaican defence for the first time in the campaign. Welshman slotted a shot past Chambers, capitalising on a defensive error by Adrian Mariappa, who missed a header, giving Welshman a clear shot on goal.
It only took five minutes for the Reggae Boyz, who came out with more purpose in the second half, to get the equaliser when East slotted home a Bobby Reid cross from down the left.
The hosts thought they had the lead three minutes later, but Ricardo Morris’ shot was parried into the outside of the upright by Guyana goalkeeper Quillan Roberts.
With time slipping away in a lacklustre second half, Jamaica head coach Theodore Whitmore tried to pull something out of the hat with the introduction of Shamar Nicholson. Guyana however held strong in defence to grab a point and prevent the Reggae Boyz getting the perfect six.
