THE PALL of doom and gloom which has hovered over the Jamaica football scene lifted slightly last night when the Reggae Boyz downed Cuba 1-0 at the National Stadium in Barbados to clinch the Digicel Caribbean Cup title and a cool US$100,000 (J$6.1 million).
A 47th minute strike from Luton Shelton saw the Jamaicans emerge form the four-team competition with three wins from as many games and a safe hold on their mantle as the No. 1 team in the region.
With all national squads eliminated from World Cup and Championships for the foreseeable future and a national body, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), buckled by huge debts, the national football programme needed a boost and that was provided in a mainly lacklustre encounter against the island's northern neighbours and fellow unbeaten side, Cuba.
GOLD CUP
Both sides had already qualified for the Gold Cup tournament, which starts in the United States in July, but the lure of the regional crown and a more than useful pay-day did not inspire a great level of football.
For the first 25 minutes of the game it was pretty much all Cuba as they pushed at and probed the Jamaica defence which was expected to be suspect against their pace.
However, the Jamaicans held firm and had the better of play going into the break. Although they had no meaningful shots on goal, they dominated possession and also the statistic for crunching tackles.
DECISIVE EDGE
Soon upon resumption, the mercurial Shelton gave Jamaica the decisive edge when, just inside the 18-yard box, he poked the ball past the advancing Cuban 'keeper, Odelin Hernandez, for the all-important goal. A draw for Jamaica would have been no good as Cuba boasted a better goal differential going into the 'final'.
Surprisingly, the Cubans, chasing their first Caribbean crown, showed a lack of urgency in pushing for the equaliser and, a late attempt by the dangerous Lester More was the only real threat Jamaica faced in the second stanza as they clinched their third regional senior championship.
When the final whistle blew, the young side and coaching staff celebrated the first tangible football triumph in a long time which may have just breathed some fresh life into the national programme.
