Jamaica 1 Bermuda 0

There was heartbreak for Bermuda as their hopes of automatic qualification for the Central American and Caribbean Games next year were dashed after Krystal Holgate struck an expertly taken goal from a penalty corner to give the host nation victory at the Mona Hockey Field in Kingston on Saturday afternoon.

Bermuda needed to win by three clear goals to finish in the top two, and had the better of possession and territory for long periods, particularly early on, but much like in their 3-0 defeat by Guyana on Thursday, the opposition’s play from the set-piece proved to be their undoing.

There is still the chance for Bermuda to pick up the bronze medal, as they play Puerto Rico in the third-fourth place play-off on Sunday, with the match starting at 11.15am Bermuda time.

Jamaica finished top of the standings with 13 points from five games and face Guyana, the only other unbeaten side, in the final at 3.45pm Bermuda time.

Guyana ended up second with 11 points with Puerto Rico third with eight points.

A dribble from Chrsyda Smith, Bermuda’s outstanding 16-year-old, earned them the first penalty corner of the game, but they were unable to take advantage.

Bermuda were dominant early on, with Jasmine Patterson, Maha Clarke, Renee Greenslade, Azari Thomas and Smith all making inroads into the Jamaica defence.

However, with four minutes left in the first quarter, Jamaica scored on their first penalty corner, when Holgate finished off an impressive routine.

Clarke had Bermuda’s best chance of the half towards the end of the second quarter, but her shot from a penalty corner was booted clear by Lorie-Ann McIntosh, the Jamaica goalkeeper.

Ebony McLean had a good chance for Jamaica in the third period, but her shot was kicked away by the left boot of Angela Dunstan, the Bermuda goalkeeper.

Frustration was creeping in, and Bermuda were down to nine players for a few moments in the third quarter when a green card for Greenslade was followed soon after by a yellow for Patterson. Nevertheless, Thomas and Alex Francis were showing enough to keep Jamaica’s defence honest.

In the final quarter, a run from Thomas brought a yellow card for Jamaica’s Kareme Hudson, but their captain, Sauwana Gordon, made a great tackle to halt the speedy Tihanna Booth’s run into the shooting circle.

With Dunstan pulled and Selina Whitter taking over as the kicking back, Jamaica began to impose themselves in the later stages. Chakira Airey was imposing in midfield and Kamille Griffiths made a great solo run, but could only put her reverse-stick shot wide of the empty net

Bermuda finished with two wins, a draw and two defeats to end up with seven points. They drew 0-0 with Puerto Rico, Sunday’s opponents, in round-robin play on Monday.

GOAL

Jamaica

Holgate 11

TEAMS

Jamaica: L-A McIntosh — S Gordon, K Holgate, K Griffiths, D Nicholson, T Knight, C Airey, E McLean, K Hudson, S Elliott, I Linton. Substitutes: J Witter, K Erskine, D Smallhorne, S-K Tullongue, O Gordon, A Baxter. Green card: Airey. Yellow card: Hudson.

Bermuda:A Dunstan — S Whitter, T Mullan, M Clarke, A Thomas, L Tavares, K Robinson, R Greenslade, C Smith, J Patterson, A Francis. Substitutes: M Palacio, I Smith, T Booth, K White. Green card: Greenslade. Yellow card: Patterson.

Umpires: M Brand (Canada), C Montino (Chile).