Guadeloupe, Guyana draw

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

SAINTE-LUCE, Martinique:

GUYANA scored late to earn a fortuitous 1-1 draw against misfiring Guadeloupe, in the opening football game of a Group I double-header of the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals, at the Riviere Pilote Stadium here, last night.

Loic Loval gave French-speaking Guadeloupe a much-belated, but deserving lead at the 71st minute, when he sent a looping header from a cross, wide of goalkeeper Ronson Williams.

However, Guyana caught out their opponents on a counter move with a clearance and on the two-on-one breakaway, Dwain Jacobs finished clinically from the top of the penalty box in the 86th minute to earn his team a share of the points.

Guadeloupe also had a goal disallowed, at the 84th minute when Jean-Luc Lamboude netted what appeared a 2-0 cushion, only for Trinidadian referee, Lee Davis, to wave off the conversion for an infringement.

The result left both with one point from the first game of the four-team group, which also includes Antigua and Barbuda, and Jamaica, the defending champions. Each team will play three matches on a round robin basis in the four-team group and the top two will advance to the semi-finals, as well as next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup, that will be staged in the United States.

NOTE: At press time last night Jamaica led Antigua and Barbuda 3-0 at half-time. Full report in tomorrow's Gleaner.