Green Machine finish sixth in CAC rugby

Troy Doris
Troy Doris

 Guyana’s national rugby team, the Green Machine, ended their campaign at the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games in sixth position on Thursday.

After being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jamaica in a thrilling contest, the Green Machine dismantled Guatemala 24-7.

Richard Staglon and Patrick King secured a try each to see Guyana race to 10-nil with just six minutes gone while Godfrey Broomes landed a conversion to see Guyana 12-0 by the halfway stage.

Guatemala dug back into the contest early in the second half with Carlos Diaz Pedroso and Carlos Rosales Paz scoring a try and conversion respectively. However, hopes for a comeback win was thwarted by the efforts of King and Broomes who each scored a conversion and Ryan Gonsalves placed the final nail in the coffin with a try to see the Green Machine advance to play Venezuela in the fifth place contest.

Venezuela duly outclassed Guyana with a 28-7 win with King and Broomes scoring a try and conversion respectively while Venezuela’s Wikinson Arrieta had a 12-point match.

Meanwhile, in the Men’s Triple Jump final, Troy Doris finished fifth with a leap of 16.43 metres. The top four were seasoned with personal bests as Cuba’s duo, Cristian Urria Naapolies (17.34m) and Jordon Fortuin Diaz (17.29m) copped gold and silver respectively. Suriname’s Miguel Van Assen took the bronze with a leap of 16.96m and Jamaica’s Jordon Scott finished ahead of Doris by 0.39m.

Also on the final day, Leslain Baird finished fourth in the men’s javelin finals with a throw of 74.72m. The event was won by Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott who notched up an 84.47m throw.