Jamaica clip Haiti 3-2 in U-17 friendly

Anthony Minott, Gleaner Writer

Junior Flemmings' 84th minute goal gave Jamaica's Under-17 boys a hard-fought 3-2 win over Haiti in a friendly international at Ferdie Neita Park in Portmore yesterday.

Jamaica cruised to a 2-0 half-time lead through goals from Javia Roberts (19th) and Omar Holness (25th).

However, Haiti looked to turn the game on its head with two well-taken second-half goals. The first was a beauty, as Johnley Cherly struck a delightful overhead kick in minute 56 and 20 minutes later, Georges Kerlin equalised for the Haitains, leaving the game interestingly poised going into the last 14 minutes.

Flemmings though, had the last say, hitting home a loose ball from close range.

Team tune-up

The match formed part of the teams' tune up for the 12-nation CONCACAF Under-17 Finals that will be held in Montego Bay. The top four will advance to the Youth World Cup Finals.

Jamaica's coach, Wendell Downswell, said: "The competition was good, especially for the first 45 minutes, but in the second 45 minutes we brought in other players as we gave them the opportunity.

"We made some errors (and they got back in the game), we could have won by two, three clear goals as we missed some chances."

The team will play another practice match, its final, against Costa Rica on Thursday and Downswell added the coaching staff will be "looking at another set of players".

Haiti's coach, Wilner Elienne, believes his team played well under the circumstances.

"The first half they didn't shine because it's the first time they are playing in Jamaica and we saw ourselves down 2-0. (In) the second half we scored two goals, but we made a mistake (in defence) and Jamaica scored on us again," said Elienne.

"That's the game, games like these are pretty important to us as we can see our mistakes ... we will see what we can do when the competition begins."

Haiti will next warm-up against Trelawny's Digicel Premier League club, Village United.

"That will be a tough game for us since they are a national premier league team, but we going to use this match to prepare for the Under-17 competition," Elienne said.

"The competition was good, especially for the first 45 minutes, but in the second 45 minutes we brought in other players as we gave them the opportunity. - Downswell