Reggae Boyz hit St Lucia for five

GROS ISLET, St Lucia — Jamaica’s footballers enjoyed an easy evening at the Beausejour Cricket Ground yesterday, romping to a 5-0 friendly international victory against Caribbean lightweights St Lucia.

Darren Mattocks scored in the 18th and 69th minutes, while 17-year-old prodigy Michael Seaton (16th), Garath McCleary (35th) and substitute Deshorn Brown (82nd) got the other goals.

Jamaica’s head coach Winfried Schaefer was pleased after the 2-0 win over Barbados on Sunday and yesterday’s more straightforward victory.

He expressed pleasure that the carpet-like Beausejour field allowed his team to play effective one-touch football.

“These wins are important. It’s our first step on the road.

“Today we could play the passes better. We couldn’t do that against Barbados. The team pressed and put St Lucia under pressure,” Schaefer told the Jamaica Observer.

St Lucia’s coach Francis Lastic conceded that his team was out matched by superior opponents.

“We are a team in a rebuilding stage, and we were beaten by a well-organised Jamaica team. We have a set of young players moving forward, and as the game went on I saw some positives,” Lastic said during a post-game press conference.

In fairly windy evening conditions, Romario Campbell helped Jamaica settle with a defence-splitting pass that put McCleary through on goal. The wide attacker, in turn, slid the ball unselfishly to Seaton, who rammed into an empty net.

Two minutes later, Mattocks rose high to head home from Campbell’s corner kick to make it 2-0.

The Jamaicans, moving the ball around nicely in midfield, went 3-0 up before the half-time break.

This time Seaton broke free down the right before floating a cross for McCleary to nod home. The teenager left the field immediately after setting up the goal, complaining of cramp in his thigh.

The second period followed the script of the first and Mattocks scored arguably the goal of the match when he picked up a through pass from Rodolph Austin and cut inside his marker before curling past the goalkeeper into the upper left corner of the goal.

Brown went on the scoresheet when fellow substitute John Ross Campbell played a cross-field pass to him and he raced into the space and rounded the ‘keeper before blasting home.

The local-based players will return to Jamaica tomorrow, while those plying their trade on overseas soil are expected to return to their respective clubs.

The Reggae Boyz’s next scheduled friendly game is against Serbia in New Jersey on May 26.

 

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Reggae-Boyz-hit-St-Lucia-for-five_16198711

Barbican, Maverley/ Hughenden enjoy good form in KSAFA leagues

BARBICAN and Maverley/ Hughenden continue their dominance of opponents in the KSAFA Super League and KSAFA/Hi-Lyte Major League, respectively, on Saturday.

Barbican, playing at home, defeated Police National 5-1, while Santos had a comfortable 3-0 victory over Rae Town at the Bell Chung Oval.

Real Mona edged Allman/Woodford 2-1 at Buttercup Park, and Greenwich Town lost 0-2 to Mountain View United at Tinson Pen. Maxfield Park and Brown’s Town played to a 0-0 draw at Maxfield, while Shortwood United and UWI drew 1-1 at the Shortwood College.

Elsewhere in the Major League, Maverley/Hughenden continued to enjoy good form by beating Pembroke Hall 2-1 at home, while Seaview were held to a 1-1 draw at home by New Kingston.

On Sunday in the Major League, Molynes United lost 0-2 at home to Duhaney Park, Red Hills easily defeated Stony Hill 3-0 at Seaview Gardens, while Cooreville Gardens edged Meadforest 1-0 at Queensborough.

Bull Bay lost 1-2 at home to Rockfort and Whitfield Town got the better of Central Kingston 1-0 at the Bell Chung Oval. At Cling Cling Oval, Olympic Gardens defeated Swallowfield 2-1.