Jamaica was the only successful Caribbean Football Union (CFU) team in the Concacaf Under-17 boys’ championship on Sunday.
A second-half brace from Orane Watson enabled the Jamaicans to prevail 4-2 against Cuba in their Group G match at the Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores in the Guatemala capital.
Jahmani Bell scored in the 22nd minute to give the Young Reggae Boyz a 1-0 lead at halftime before Watson followed with strikes in 56th and 75th minutes either side of a 70th minute goal from Ashton Gordon.
Cuba did not throw in the towel though and caused a few flutters on the Jamaican bench when Didier Reinoso pulled a pair of goals back in the 78th and 89th minutes to give his side a strong finish to the contest.
Jamaica’s head coach Merron Gordon was grateful for the winning start but rued his team’s inability to see out the last quarter hour of the game in a proficient manner.
“From in the activation this morning (Sunday) I could see the focus in the boys’ eyes, the body language was very positive and even travelling from the hotel to the stadium I knew they were going to give a good performance, a good start,” he noted at game’s end.
He added: “They did that but I’m a little bit disappointed with the ending, the last ten, 15 minutes of the game, but they are U17 players… we made some changes based off injuries and cards but I didn’t think we saw out the game as best as we could.
”At half time because of what I thought was not wanting to make a mistake in the first game, we were playing too direct, so I reminded them of their options when we have the ball, and we played better and could mix the play… play through the lines and also play direct when we needed to and we got that right for about 20, 30 minutes of the second half and played some good football.”
Gordon, who is assisted by Vassel Reynolds and Andrew Peart on his coaching staff, and veteran Wendell Downswell as technical director, noted that he has seen growth in the group of young players which has begun to bear fruits on the pitch.
“I’ve seen maturity in the boys in terms of how they are growing. (Scoring) Goals were a concern at one point for these boys but scoring four goals today, creating a number of chances and I don’t want anybody to think that this Cuban team is a walkover. They are very good in the final third, but I think we are strong in areas that they are weak, so that’s what we used to really counter them and get the result that we needed.
“Hats off to the boys and hats off to the coaching staff, I think we really worked very hard for this one, but we are quickly going to move on and do some recovery work tomorrow (Monday) with a little bit of tactical work in the evening and get ready for Guadeloupe, who we saw tonight (Sunday).”
He expects the French-speaking Guadeloupe team to pose a threat to the Young Reggae Boyz on Tuesday.
“Not a bad team, Costa Rica got two early goals on them, but they settled, and they fought, the game finished 2-1 so it will be a tighter group than anybody thinks.
“I know that at this age group the football is very close, so we just need to do what we have to do tactically and technically to get the desired result each game.”
On Sunday, Costa Rica beat Guadeloupe 2-1 in the nightcap match in Group G, holding firm after first half strikes from Sean Albriton in the fifth minute and Andry Naranjo in the 14th minute.
El Salvador overcame an early deficit to brush aside Haiti 3-1 in Group H, and Honduras, led by a second half brace from Edwin Munguia, crushed Suriname 6-1.
All eight teams in action on Sunday will return to the field on Tuesday, when Jamaica will meet Guadeloupe in Group G at the Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, where Cuba will face Costa Rica.
Group H at the Estadio Pensativo will feature Haiti taking on Suriname, and an all-Central American clash between Honduras and El Salvador.
-CMC/Ian Burnett
 team in the Concacaf Under-17 boys’ championship on Sunday.){kind=link}