Reggae Boyz back in the groove

Audley Boyd, Assistant Editor - Sport

SAINTE-LUCE, Martinique:

AS THE saying goes, one swallow doesn't a summer make. But the Reggae Boyz's 2-0 win over Guadeloupe on Monday night has certainly blown a breath of fresh air into the Jamaican camp, swelling its belief and commitment to defend the Digicel Caribbean Cup.

The desire to transform that belief into reality was fired up by a hot dispute between the players and their parent body, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), which was issued an ultimatum to pay each player US$1200 per diem for the tournament, as well as 80 per cent of any prize money earned, or face a withdrawal.

At the 11th hour - a near midnight meeting between the players and members of the JFF hierarchy prior to the Guadeloupe match - JFF president, Captain Horace Burrell, announced that rather than let his country face embarrassment, he would accede to the players' demands, by settling with his own money.

Now, in the first match up, the players have responded, ahead of tonight's closing preliminary group fixture against Guyana.

Commenting on the the players' mental focus prior to the Guadeloupe game, head coach Theodore Whitmore said: "To be honest it could have been better. At one point in time in the warm-up you could see the tension and when we came back in the changing room you could see the tension and even in the first half and we had to really shake them up in the changing room and ask them if they wanted something to happen before they did something.

"I think they responded fairly well, and to be honest to the team, I don't really think it is an on-the-field problem, it is off-the-field because worse things have happened and they dealt with it. ... Once the Jamaican national team touches the field, they are going to play, regardless of what happens."

"I'm very, very pleased," noted Shavar Thomas, the team's captain, of their winning salvo. "Going into the game against Guadeloupe it was important for us to qualify, first of all, and we did so; and secondly, in light of what had happened over the past couple of days, it was important that we went out there and perform.

"Honestly, I can say it did not impact on us negatively. As soon as everything was settled we put it aside and looked forward to the game. We were focused on the game and going into the game we knew what we wanted to do ...," he added.

Shaun Francis, in his fourth appearance for the Boyz, netted his first goal for the Jamaica senior football team by scoring with a far-post header off Dane Richards' perfect cross at the 53rd minute, while second half substitute Ryan Johnson netted the second goal in injury time, expertly placing a grounder from nearly 18 yards, between two defenders on the goal line, after being set-up for the goal by Richard Edwards.

The victory made by those sublime finishes not only eased some tension off the Boyz. Head of delegation, Raymond Anderson, was also happy that things had changed for the better. He said: "First I must really congratulate the players because they still went out and did what they had to do. But the panic button was last night as you know and I'm happy that good sense prevailed and everything was calmed."

The win also brought triple success of sorts, as it also qualified Jamaica as one of the top two teams from Group I for the semi-finals, and next year's CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, that will be staged in the United States.

"That's what we come here for, to defend the championship," said Anderson, who is also a JFF vice-president.

"Our campaign for the World Cup started from last year. Now we are at CFU for the Digicel Cup, we've actually qualified now for the Gold Cup and playing in the Gold Cup will mean volumes for us because what will happen now is, we'll have more matches and exposure at the highest level."