DESPITE an error-filled display, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz were still good enough to beatCaribbean arch-rivals, Trinidad and Tobago, 1-0 in a friendly international football match at the National Stadium last evening.

Dane Richards scored the winner, coolly slotting away a penalty kick at the 19th minute.

The penalty came from one of few good team build-ups by the Jamaicans when Eric Vernan was taken down near the six-yard area, as he burst forward looking to win a pass laid across goalmouth by Shaun Francis, one of two players given a senior team debut by head coach Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore.

Jamaica also had a goal disallowed when Dever Orgill, who made his senior team debut as a second-half sub, rounded goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams and slipped the ball into the unprotected goal at the 73rd minute, only for the conversion to be waved away for offside.

Former St George's College schoolboy Marvin Morgan Jr also got his first start but, while both debutants showed a fair amount of confidence, their general play was like that of the team, largely unproductive and failed to enliven the gathering of nearly 8,000 which turned up despite the threat of rain posed by recurring showers over the past weeks.

Inefficiency

The major element of the locals' inefficiency was their passing, which was quite terrible as they turned over the ball with alarming regularity against a very ordinary team, more through carelessness than composure as they appeared largely relaxed in possession.

The turnovers were far more significant in the second half when Trinidad and Tobago introduced Keon Daniel to their attack and became more threatening in their build-ups.

Despite that, they lacked a real punch and hardly created a clear opening.

Their best opportunity came at the 17th minute when Yohance Marshall's header, off a corner kick taken by Trent Noel, was saved by Richard McCallum.

They got another decent chance in the second half when a defensive lapse allowed Cornell Glenn to win possession going wide to the byline. However, his attempt to cross to the unmarked Anthony Wolfe was blocked by McCallum, 20 minutes into a second half when they dominated possession but could not cut a route through the Jamaican defence.

This is where they differed mainly from the Jamaicans, who possess players with cutting edge and found a way though their defence on many occasions to create very clear scoring chances.

Richards, the scorer, and Ricardo Fuller made decent openings in a first half where Jamaica had a superior game. But Morgan, twice, Richards and Vernan had shots on goal fisted away by Williams.

Even during the second half when Jamaica failed to combine passes and were forced into kicking the ball from their penalty box while defending resolutely, they proved to be by far the more dangerous team by making bread and butter chances.

However, Ryan Johnson, who added some power to the offence, and Orgill both had excellent opportunities saved or placed wide, to sum up their off-key performance in a game they still managed to win.