IT was another disappointing day at the office for Coach Jamaal Shabazz as he stood on the sidelines witnessing his Golden Jaguars going down 6 – 0 to Haiti in their return fixture at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium in the Dominican Republic.

Carnejy Antoine (87’, 89’), Mondy Prunier (48’, 76’), Alex Junior Christian (39’) and Simonsen Jeppe Friborg (63’) were the players to find the net for the Haitians.

The result would put Haiti in firm command of Group B, in League B on ten points, while Guyana will remain in second place on six from four matches.

Haiti will remain in contention for qualifying directly to the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Guyana might have to battle it out against Montserrat, who is in third place (three points) for a spot in the qualification tournament.

After the two sides played to a lopsided 6 – 2 result in favour of the Haitians at Leonora, Shabazz had promised a more spirited performance in Santo Domingo.

Shabazz made several changes to the starting line-up that played in Guyana last weekend, bringing in Akel Clarke in goal, Jeremey Garrett, Quincy Adams, Kelsey Benjamin, Stephen Duke-McKenna and Torell Ondaan.

Jalen Jones, Emery Welshman, Neil Danns, Jalen Jones and Nathan Moriah-Welsh were the only starters from the Guyana leg.

Based on the early exchanges, those adjustments seemed right, until the 39th minute when Haiti got the first of the game. Christian scored on the rebound after a free-kick taken by Columbus Crew’s Derrick Etienne Jr.

Garrett, who was making his first start in the Nations League, was called for a rough challenge on Carnejy Antoine, resulting in the free-kick.

The Guyanese players were appealing for an offside infraction, but the officials upheld the goal.

Guyana would return to the dressing room at halftime only conceding one goal.

But things took a turn for the Golden Jaguars when they went down to 10 men after Benjamin picked up his second yellow card just three minutes into the second half for an unnecessary elbow to the neck of one of the Haitian players.

Everything went downhill thereafter for the Golden Jaguars.

Haiti completely dominated the game in every third on the pitch, getting off 16 shots on goal while holding on to the ball 68% of the time.

Defensively, Haiti was more sound, only allowing the Guyanese to get off five shots on goal during their 90 minutes of play.

Guyana will travel to Hamilton on March 25, 2023, to face Bermuda.

The Golden Jaguars will close their participation in the second edition of the Nations League with a home game against Montserrat on March 28, 2023.

According to CONCACAF, the Nations League will serve as the qualifier for the 2023 Gold Cup.