Jamaica 3 Bermuda 2

Bermuda’s hopes of qualifying for the Concacaf Under-20 Championship were dashed after they lost a five-goal thriller to Jamaica last night.

The Reggae Boyz led 2-0 at half-time but Bermuda came storming back after the restart to draw level thanks to goals by Xahvi DeRoza and midfielder Hayden Dill.

The Gombey Warriors, who needed to win by two clear goals to top group F, pressed on in search of more goals but conceded late on as Jamaica clinched the sole qualifying spot up for grabs after being given a huge scare.

Bermuda coach Cecoy Robinson was disappointed to see his team come up short but praised his players for their tremendous determination and character to come back from two goals down.

“It’s hard to take but I am proud of the performance,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“They played well. I’ve watched both of Jamaica’s games and we were by far the toughest opponents they had. To be down 2-0 and come back and make it 2-2, possibly have another chance to score and hit the crossbar, that’s the way football goes sometimes.

“Again, we are learning in tournaments and we are learning by mistakes, and so this is what’s hurting us, but we pick up and keep moving and the boys should be very proud of themselves.”

Bermuda captain Harry Twite was proud to lead the side but was disappointed with the poor start made by the team.

“We worked hard but obviously the result didn’t go our way and that’s due to the way we started,” he said.

“But as the game progressed we kept on picking it up and picking it up. We really played our hearts out and that’s all you want.“

Jamaica came out swinging from the opening whistle and took an early lead when defender Robino Gordon rose above the Bermuda defence to head home from a corner.

Bermuda then fell further behind when Jamaican forward Fabian Reynolds took possession just outside of the box and fired into the top left corner.

After changing their shape, Bermuda finally got a foothold in the match, with midfielder Riley Robinson and striker DeRoza testing Jamaica goalkeeper Taywane Lynch but they would have gone in at half-time 3-0 down but for Jamaica captain Romain Blake missing a penalty after team-mate Reynolds went down under a challenge from Twite in the area.

Whatever Robinson said to his players at half-time provoked an immediate response with an exquisite finish by DeRoza from the right side of the box cutting the deficit in half in the 50th minute.

Dill then brought off a fine save from Lynch before midfielder Sanchiel Ming bent a free kick just wide from a tight angle.

Bermuda kept the pressure on with some attractive football and were awarded a penalty after Jamaica captain Blake hauled Robinson down in the box. A composed Dill sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to bring the teams level.

Bermuda goalkeeper David Martin pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep the Gombey Warriors in the match while Jamaica’s Robino Gordon struck the post.

With the game hanging in the balance, Jamaica substitute Ashton Gorden was allowed time and space deep in Bermuda’s half and took his chance superbly with a fierce left -foot shot from distance that flew into the top left corner to restore his team’s lead.

A courageous Bermuda battled on and went close to grabbing another equaliser when substitute striker Andrew Armstrong’s header struck the bar in a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

That proved to be the last chance as Jamaica held to secure their place at this Concacaf Under-20 Championship this summer.

“Overall. it’s kind of bittersweet,” Jamaica coach John Wall said.

“I am not too pleased about a lot of things about our play but we still prevailed to get through.

“A lot of credit to Bermuda for their performance and not giving up on the game. They continued to work and we had to put a shift in.”

SCORERS

Jamaica: R Gordon 2, Reynolds 11, A Gordon 83

Bermuda: DeRoza 50, Dill 61

TEAMS

Jamaica (4-3-3): T Lynch 7 - C Ainsworth 7, A Dixon 7, R Blake 7 (sub: G Grant, 63min 7) R Gordon 7 - A Bicknell 7 (sub: K Horsely-McKay, 90) - R Barrell 7, B Burkett 7 (sub: D Mekenzie, 63 7), D Cohen 6 (sub: A Gordon, 32 7), F Reynolds 7 - T Gowe 6 (sub: N Simmonds, 46 7). Substitutes not used: A Bernard, J Grant, M Forbes. Booked: McKenzie, Grant.

Bermuda (4-4-2): D Martin 7 - J Burgess 7, H Twite 7, M Mobray 7, J Henderson 7 - A Todd 7, R Robinson 7, S Ming 7 (sub: J Madeiros, 72 7), E Joseph 7 (sub: J Roberts, 66 7)- H Dill 7 (sub: A Armstrong, 81), X DeRoza 7. Substitutes not used: N Swan, B Morrison, N Grant, D Swan-DeSilva, J Eve, G Burgess. Booked: Ming, Dill.

Referee: J Luna (Guyana).