TRUE GRIT!
Donaldson heartened by Reggae Girlz resilience, attacking in Paraguay opener
Published:Saturday | November 12, 2022 | 12:10 AMAudley Boyd/News Editor
JAMAICA’S REGGAE Girlz are being likened to a hard nut, a tough unit to crack following their hard fought 1-0 win over Paraguay in their international friendly women’s football match at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, St James, on Thursday night.
The home team battled tooth and nail against gritty South American opponents for the entire duration of the contest, as they continue their build-up to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.
They had to deal with disappointment time after time with Paraguayan goalkeeper Alicia Bobadilla making save after save, but they kept throwing everything forward until stand-in captain, central defender Alysson Swaby, finally netted the goal they craved, in the second of four minutes added for stoppages.
The goal emanated from a corner kick, which generated a goalmouth scramble in which Swaby let fly from six yards to settle the score in a feisty encounter. The grit and perseverance displayed made the Jamaican head coach, Lorne Donaldson, proud of his charges.
“I was pleased with the effort that the players gave,” expressed Donaldson. “The effort is what counts because I noticed some nervousness in the beginning, but as long as everybody bond together in the effort (that’s OK).
“This is a resilient group, they find a way to get things done,” he said.
What Donaldson found pleasing as well was the team’s attacking display throughout because they had prepared to test their offensive qualities.
“One of our primary goals coming into this game is, we didn’t really spend a lot of time on anything with defending. We want to make sure of our offence, we want to get forward, we want to attack more, we want to get more chances,” he shared.
On the defensive end, Jamaica did not give up a chance in the first half and at the opposite end of the pitch, they were busy creating good scoring chances, with some decent passing and especially the added quality of striker Khadija Shaw, who could have had a hat trick but for two saves from Bobadilla and another shot she crashed against the crossbar.
Midfielder Drew Spence was also denied by a Bobadilla save in the first half.
“We’d love to convert them, but we got the chances,” Donaldson reflected on their part-mission success. “Protect the ball, get forward and score goals; that was our primary goal.”
EUPHORIC MOMENT
When the goal did come, Donaldson, a former attacking player in the Jamaica national team who has had a long career coaching in the United States, was captivated by the euphoria of the goal-moment, along with its timing.
“That goal was good and maybe there’s a higher power than us who said, ‘let’s score a late goal’. And I think that was more pleasing because if we had scored an early goal, then it wouldn’t be as pleasing. But the crowd was in it from the start and they just wanted something and thankfully it ended the way it ended,” he said.
“In extra time they scored a goal, that’s one of the most difficult things in the world, it’s the toughest thing for another team to swallow and one of the most pleasing things to a crowd that the game is over (literally), and then it’s a goal, and the home team wins. So I was very, very pleased the way it happened,” he continued.
“We could’ve scored an early one and won one-love and still miss chances. But to score late, I was so excited for the fans and the players, I couldn’t say anything. I just looked around at the fans and at the players and said ‘is this really women’s football in Jamaica. It’s come a long way’.
“You saw the reaction of the players,” he said. “When you looked around, the reaction was something else.”
Thursday’s match was the first of two against Paraguay. The next match is set for the National Stadium in Kingston tomorrow when Donaldson’s charges go yet again under the microscope.
“This is another game looking at players. Some players show up certain things,” he admitted.
“Our mission is a little bit different from theirs (Paraguay),” he added. “They’re preparing for a game in the next three months, we’re preparing for games nine months from now, so we’re still looking at players and looking at stuff.”