THE Lady Jags defeated the Reggae Girls 2 -1 last evening to book their spot in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifier next year, thanks to goals from Mariam El Masri and second half substitute Brittany Persuad.It’s the second time the Guyanese women have qualified for the major CONCACAF tournament; something the men are yet to accomplish.

After falling to Puerto Rico 1 – 0 on Wednesday at the same venue, Guyana regrouped and rebounded to put on another mesmerising performance at the Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva.
Jamaica was beaten by Trinidad (2 -1) in their game, also played on Wednesday.
Guyana was dominant in their 90 minutes of play last night.
Head Coach Mark Rodrigues made one change to his starting lineup, brining in Otesha Charles for Brittany Persuad.
Chante Sandford (GK), Alison Heydorn, Briana DeSouza, Kayla DeSouza, Justine Rodrigues, Ashley Rodrigues, Ashlee Savona, Olivia Gonsalves, Mariam El Masri and Julia Gonsalves were the other starters.
Charles made several promising run on goal and took advantage of Jamaica’s untidy defence.
Charles came close to putting Guyana up early when she received a through ball from Ashle Savona but she was given a yellow card after colliding with the advancing keeper (Taylor Grant).
Guyana’s defence stood firm against Jamaica’s Vanica Reid and Tashana Vincent.
Skipper Ashley Rodrigues made a nice run, cut between two defenders, and her shot which was well placed, beat the Jamaican goalkeeper but came off the goal post.
However Vincent, in the 43rd minute, put the Jamaicans up 1 – 0 owing such to a breakdown in communication by the Guyanese defence.
But like true Jaguars, in the second half Guyana equalised in the 48th minute, with a beautiful goal from El Masri.
Charles had broken away on a counter but the Jamaican defence recovered.
Charles made a pass to Savona who found El Masri. Her thunderous right footed shot was hit too hard for the keeper to stand a chance.
Guyana kept up the pressure until Persaud scored from point-blank range.
It was the game winner by the substitute and it sparked wild celebrations on the sideline and even in the stands since Guyana was by far the crowd favourite.
With the win, Guyana will now join USA, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Puerto Rico and Guatemala to see which two countries will represent CONCACAF at the Olympic Games in Rio.

By Rawle Toney in Trinidad and Tobago