Thursday, September 28, 2006

Jamaica rout St. Lucia 4-0 in Digicel Cup

Jamaica opened their defense of the Digicel Cup with an unconvincing 4-0 win over St Lucia at the National Stadium last night.
Comprised mostly of local-based players, The Reggae Boyz got goals from Kevin Lamey, Wilfred Smith and Demar Phillips to take joint leadership of Group B with Haiti on three points.

In a scrappy performance against a very weak St. Lucia team, Jamaica scored all the goals in the first half and looked lost for ideas in the second.
Seba's Wilfred Smith got the Boyz off to a good start in the third minute when he scored from inside the box after goalie Giovanni Veterville failed to hold onto a Fabian Davis left-footer. In the 22nd minute Kevin Lamey got his long awaited international goal when he buried a pass from Waterhouse club mate Demar Phillip. Eight minutes later Phillips got the third when he scored a header from a left-sided corner. Lamey completed his brace by scoring again six minutes later.
In the curtain-raiser, a hot Haitian team crushed St. Vincent and the Grenadines 4-0 with goals from Josue Mayard. Jean Baptiste Fritzson, Jean Jascques and Herold Gracien.

The competition continues tomorrow at the same venue with Haiti vs St Lucia at 5:00 pm and Jamaica vs SVG at 7:00. Read more in the Forum

Boyz kick off Digicel Caribbean Cup against St Lucia

The Reggae Boyz kicks off their leg of the Digicel Caribbean Cup in a double header at the National Stadium today. In the curtain-raiser at 5:00 pm, Haiti takes on St Vincent and the Grenadines followed by Jamaica against St. Lucia.

Interim head coach Carl Brown, who was reappointed last month following the resignation of Wendell Downswel will be in charge of the team as they begin their defence of the Cup. It will also be the first time that Jamaica will be playing at the "Office" in over 20 months.
The team will be made up mainly of local based players and is expected to advance from Group D, dubbed the "{group of death". Brown is concerned with the strikers at his disposal and will have to choose from Kevin Lamey, Rohan Reid, Roland Dean, Wilfred Smith and Fabian Dawkins. In addition, overseas-based players Omar Daley, Shane Crawford, Sean Fraser and Fabian Dawkins, were called up for the game.

The winner and runner-up advance to the next phase, with the finals set for Trinidad early next year. The 2006/07 Digicel Caribbean Cup winners will earn a first prize of US$120,000. The full squad is: Shawn Sawyers, Richard McCallum, Demar Stewart, Jermaine Taylor, Xavian Virgo, Fabian Davis, Garfield Reid, Shane Crawford, Oneil Thompson, Omar Daley, Demar Phillips, Jason Morrison, Damion Williams, Sean Fraser, Fabian Dawkins, Roland Dean, Wilfred Smith, Kevin Lamey.
Read more in the Forum

Monday, September 04, 2006

Canada 1, Jamaica 0

The Reggae Boyz went down 0-1 against Canada in an international friendly played at Montreal's Claude Robillard Stadium. A goal in the 41st minute by Rob Friend gave Canada the edge in a game that both teams could make valid claims for victory.

The Reggae Boyz, playing without many of their top players made a number of mistakes in the first half. In the 38th minute, Friend had to be helped from the field after coming up on a hard tackle from defender Damion Stewart at the edge of the penalty area. Stewart was cautioned by the Costa Rican referee Walter Quesaba on the play. Minutes later, Friend headed a lobbed ball from midfielder Julian de Guzman over a stranded Shawn Sawyers and into the Jamaican goal.

Jamaica played a much better second half especially with the introduction in the 64th minute of Omar Daley and Dawkins replacing Demar Phillips and Kevin Lamey. Daley along with Cambell-Ryce played some good combinations and in the 68th minute the Reggae Boyz were unlucky not to have the equalizer. Teafore Bennett was unfairly judged to be offside after scoring a rebound off goalkeeper Greg Sutton.

The game was watched by 6,500 mostly pro-Canadian with a small but vocal group of Reggae Boyz supporters. Both teams will meet in a return match in Kingston, Jamaica on Oct. 8. More in the Forum