By Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Jamaican Under-20 player Akeam Priestly sends his marker in the wrong direction during the final game of the Caribbean Zone World Cup qualifiers against Bermuda at the Prison Oval last night. Jamaica won the game 3-0 and qualified for the next round against Haiti. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
JAMAICA STROLLED into the next round of the Caribbean Under-20 World Cup qualifiers with a 3-0 blanking of Bermuda at the Spanish Town Prison Oval last night.
With St. Lucia having pulled off a 4-1 victory against Antigua, Jamaica had a walk in the park against a sprightly Bermuda team that needed to have won by eight clear goals. Those goals didn't come and they had to suffer watching Keamar Munroe (22nd), Akeam Priestly (26th) and O'Brian White (91st) strike for the hosts.
The Bermudans came out fighting as they were expected to but Jamaica soon pushed them back with shows of individual brilliance. That enterprise led to a free-kick on the left side of the field that Munroe hit marvellously to leave the Bermudan goalkeeper Daniel Johnson hapless.
Four minutes later Munroe was again involved as it was his cross that found its way at the feet of Priestly, who cranked up a ferocious left footer from close range to take the score to 2-0.
The second-half was a little more tame for the Jamaicans who were now in cruise control and Bermuda put together some good attacks. However, Jamaica mounted attacks of their own in response and Luton Shelton, who had gone quiet, could count himself unfortunate not to have made it on to the scoresheet on more than one occasion. As a matter of fact, Shelton's night was summed up when he hit the bar for a second time and turned away and shrugged his shoulders.
Jamaica coach Wendell Downswell was already looking to what's ahead for his team after last night's victory.
"We've been thinking of making a trip abroad somewhere between the third and the fifth (September) so we can get in one or two games before playing Haiti next month," he said.
There is a suggestion that those games could be played against either Cuba or Trinidad ahead of the home and away qualification round to be played against Haiti next month.
Bermuda's coach, Kenny Thompson, was proud of his players.
"We respect Jamaica a lot. They have very, very good players from our perspective and so we know that it is always going to be difficult," Thompson said.
"We came into this game with virtually no chance of qualifying because we would have had to beat Jamaica by eight goals and that wasn't going to happen so we really wanted to put up good resistance and I think the players did," he said.
