..take out Belize 2-1 at the National Track and Field Centre last night

FOR the first time in the country’s history, Guyana will play at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, thanks to goals from Neil Danns and Emery Welshman which lifted the Golden Jaguars to a 2 – 1 win over Belize last night at the National Track and Field Centre in Leonora.

Watched by almost 5,000 football-crazed fans, Danns scored in the 16th minute when he converted from the penalty spot, while Welshman’s goal was seen as the ‘game-winner’, given the fact that Belize’s Elroy Kuylen equalized in the 25th minute, before the Canadian-based Guyanese found the back of the net in the 43rd minute.

Head Coach Michael Johnson started with Akel Clarke in goal, but surprised almost everyone with his tactical gamble of playing Kadell Daniels in the left-back position; a gamble which paid off, since the Dover Athletic midfielder was outstanding in the position.

Ronayne-Marsh Brown teamed up with his younger brother, Keanu-Marsh Brown, along with Elliot Bonds, Captain Samuel Cox, Welshman, Terrence Vancooten, Danns, Callum Harriott and Anthony Jeffrey in the starting line-up.

Danns was tasked with giving Guyana the go-ahead after Newport County’s Keanu-Marsh Brown was brought down in the ‘18’ in his attempt to latch onto a pass from Welshman.

Pandemonium broke out in the stands as fans celebrated the goal, but it was short-lived, as Kuylen curled a well-placed free-kick to the top right corner of the net from about 22-yards out from goal, leaving Guyana’s Akel Clarke stunned.

Danns would later have a chance to make it 2 – 1 but, when he stepped to the penalty spot to take a conversion after Welshman was brought down in the ‘box’, the Belize keeper this time went the correct side to deny the Guyanese.

Welshman, just before half-time, connected on a Callum Harriott shot that was saved and did nothing wrong when he let loose a powerful right-footed volley that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Bolton Wanderers’ Stephen Duke-McKenna, Caledonia United’s Sheldon Holder and MLS side Philadelphia Unions’ Warren Creavalle then entered the game, replacing Danns, Vancooten and Keanu-Marsh Brown as the substitution used by Johnson.

At the end of the 90 minutes, the facility at Leonora was flooded with tears, as the players and fans huddled at centre field, and celebrated the country’s Gold Cup berth, following in the footsteps of the Lady Jags who had reached the women’s Gold Cup in 2010.