REFLECTING ON the difficulties encountered by Jamaica in their 2-1 win over Barbados, in the Digicel Caribbean Championships Finals at the National Stadium on Wednesday night, Reggae Boyz head coach John Barnes pointed out that the overall standard of teams in the region has risen.

"We really need to understand, like Captain [Jamaica Football Federation president Horace Burrell] said earlier ... that to qualify for the Digicel Cup, you have to be a good team, you have to be able to compete," Barnes told journalists in a post-game interview. "The organisation shown by Barbados, the spirit and determination - it's not a wake-up call to the players because we know how good the teams are here. But, hopefully, it'll be a wake-up call for everybody else who feels that because its's Jamaica, or because it's Trinidad, that it's going to be a walkover for us. It's going to be a difficult thing for all of us,"

Tough time

Though establishing clear dominance, Jamaica had a very tough time breaking down the Barbados defence, scoring twice in the last quarter-hour through Rodolph Austin (76th) and Luton Shelton (81st pen.) to erase a 1-0 deficit and win the match.

Barbados scored right on the stroke of half-time when a corner kick swerved in from the left was met near the centre of goal at six yards by Riviere Williams and he buried a free header into the net.

Besides the goal, Jamaica created the best chances, forcing Barbados to shoot from outside the goal area on most occasions.

In the 23rd minute, a through ball was played for the busy Eric Vernan into the penalty box. However, as he pushed the ball between Barbados goalie Alvin Rouse and a defender, Vernan, the most threatening Reggae Boy in the first half with his darting runs and crosses from the right flank, was cut down.

Unbelievably, El Salvador referee, Joel Aguillar, did not award a penalty, from which Jamaica could have taken the lead.

More competitive

It was by far the clearest opening of the first 45 minutes because while Jamaica had more possession, they found it hard to break down the Barbadians' defence. Barbados also made the game competitive with their hard running as they pressed Jamaica continuously.

Jamaica-born Barnes, who attended St George's College before migrating in his early teens to Britain with his parents, andrepresented England at two World Cup Finals, pointed to the character of his team, which was mirrored in its fightback.

"What it takes (to win) is guts, tears and character and being 1-0 down, that is what the players had to do in the second half," he said.

Jamaica, playing in front of a loyal following of about 4,000 in the 35,000-seat facility, actually did that, while taking greater control in the second half, though they were still having difficulties utilising their team game to break down Barbados.

That was until the pace and skill of Dane Richards and Demar Phillips at wide right and left midfield, respectively, were introduced for Sean Fraser and Rafe Wolfe. Richards, in particular, was virtually uncontainable and was successful at dribbling inside the penalty box from right on a number of occasions, to supply crosses before goal.

Wilted under pressure

Barbados wilted under the pressure that had become intense, as Jamaica were winning many corners, putting in many squares and forcing a number of hasty clearances before Barbados' goal.

The eastern Caribbean team finally broke when Richards, who only minutes earlier had slammed a firm shot from point-blank range into Rouse's body, produced a nice piece of innovation by lifting the ball over a wall of defenders before him, to set-up the opening goal that set the tone for a hard-earned victory.

The Jamaicans return to action against Grenada, in the feature match of a Jarrett Park Group A double-header tonight. Both teams are tied atop the group on three points after registering 2-1 victories.

Grenada beat fancied Trinidad and Tobago, who will meet Barbados in the Jarrett Park opener at 5 p.m.