East At The Double For Joyous Jamaica

Veteran gives Reggae Boyz  lifeline after Honduras stunned by minnows

Javon East’s brace sealed a straightforward 2-0 triumph over El Salvador to leapfrog to second spot in the six-team CONCACAF Nations League place last night.

With the hosts reduced to 10 players after 20 minutes, the Reggae Boyz were gifted space to constantly toy with their opponents. Two goals from the former Portmore United hotshot sealed precious maximum points as Jamaica cling on to their hopes of claiming a quarter-final berth.

With a trip to Honduras next, who were surprisingly stunned 2-1 in Martinique, the Boyz only require a draw to progress in the competition.

As the Boyz appeared lacklustre in last week’s home defeat to Honduras, interim head coach Rudolph Speid added Tajay Grant, Ramone Howell, Jamone Lyle and Kyle Ming to the squad for the must win back-to-back games in El Salvador and Honduras.

He shook things up by switching to a 3-4-2-1 formation, and gave Miguel Oliver Freckleton his maiden start after his impressive stint against Honduras in Kingston.

Jamaica kicked off as firm favourites to win their League A Group B clash inside the Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador, unbeaten in their five previous encounters with El Salvador.

They were soon elevated to becoming surefire victors when centre back Rudy Clavel was given his marching orders. His late tackle on livewire East proved to be a gamechanger after an overall insipid start. The sending off transformed the game into one-way traffic, with the Boyz visibly lifted by their numerical advantage.

Even though they were more buoyant than usual, it took until just before half-time for Jamaica to finally make a breakthrough. Freckleton’s pin-point cross from the left saw Israel-based East poke the ball past Mario Gonzalez for a long overdue 39^th-minute lead.

El Salvador, thumped 6-0 in Guatemala in their previous match, were unable to go toe-to-toe with the Boyz after the turnaround. Instead they pumped the ball forward for Brayan Gil to chase, with shotstopper Andre Blake twice doing well to deny the lively striker.  

Although Speid stuck with two wingers behind target Bailey Cadamarteri, he decided to unleash 16-year-old striker Jahmarie Nolan for his debut with just over half-an-hour remaining. 

This change immediately paid dividends. The fearless teenager provided the goal assist, after brilliantly winning possession inside the box, for East to thunder into the top right corner on 64 minutes.

Jamaica’s success sent El Salvador to the bottom of the table, and now facing relegation, while in stark contrast the Boyz travel to Honduras today brimming with confidence.

A CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final slot is suddenly within reach for Speid’s troops. The Boyz must avoid defeat to Honduras on Tuesday to join Canada, Mexico, Panama and the United States along with the top two finishers from the pair of League A tables.

The last eight matches will be played between 9-17 November, which will offers Speid plenty of time to tweak his squad and tactics.

Curacao and Haiti are favourites to qualify from League A Group A. Although should either team lose their next match, surprise package Dominican Republic could sneak through.

Although it remains a wide-open battle in Group B, Jamaica could only be denied progress if they slip up to Honduras inside the Chelato Ucles National Stadium in Tegucigalpa on October 5.

Yet Jamaica will surely fancy their chances of registering another victory. This success over El Salvador added to their impressive recent record in Central America, having also scored twice to claim victories over Honduras and Nicaragua.

JAMAICA: Blake – Oliver Freckleton, King (Lowe, 84), Latibeaudiere (Cover, 84) – Webster, Clarke, Anderson, Ming (Campbell, 66) – Dixon, East (Lyle, 83)– Cadamarteri (Nolan, 57). Subs: Ainsworth, Howell, Knight, Grant, Atkinson, Davis.

CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
League A Group A October Results
Curacao 1 Trinidad & Tobago 0
Dominican Republic 2 Haiti 4
Nicaragua 0 Costa Rica 3

League A Group A October Fixtures
Costa Rica vs Haiti
Nicaragua vs Dominican Republic
Trinidad & Tobago vs Curacao

League A Group A Table (after 2 games)
1. Curacao 9pts (+7 goal difference)
2. Haiti 9pts (+6)
3. Dominican Republic 6pts (-1)
4. Costa Rica 3pts (0)
5. Trinidad & Tobago 0pts (-3)
6. Nicaragua 0pts (-9)

League A Group B October Results
El Salvador 0 Jamaica 2
Martinique 2 Honduras 1
Suriname 0 Guatemala 0

League A Group B October Fixtures
Guatemala vs Suriname
Honduras vs Jamaica
Martinique vs El Salvador

League A Group B Table (after 3 games)
1. Suriname 7pts (+2 goal difference)
2. Jamaica 6pts (+4)
3. Guatemala 4pts (+5)
4. Honduras 3pts (+1)
5. Martinique 3pts (-2)
6. El Salvador 3pts (-6)

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