By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
NATIONAL SENIOR team coach, Sebastiao Lazaroni, was very impressed with the performance of the five youth team players who started in the Reggae Boyz' come from behind 4-1 win over a St. James selection in a warm-up game at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay on Sunday night.
Four members of the national Under-20 team Jermaine Taylor, Mario Harrison, Akeem Priestly and Luton Shelton along with national Under-23 players Damion Williams and Keith Kelly, started for the national team, joining goalkeeper and captain Aaron Lawrence, Fabian Davis, Damion Stewart, Chris Jackson and Roland Dean.
Davis from the penalty spot in the 40th minute, Stewart at the 51st, Teofore Bennett (71st) and Cornel Chin-Sue (88th) scored for the local-based Reggae Boyz, after Jermie Bucknor had given the St. James team a sixth minute lead.
Lazaroni, who spent most of the game watching quietly from the bench, told The Gleaner afterwards that he was pleased with the performance of the youngsters.
"We started with many young players and we made one mistake and they (St. James) scored," the Brazilian said.
OPPORTUNITY
Lazaroni said the young players are being given the opportunity to continue their development by being introduced to the senior programme at this time. He declined to single out any of the players for special mention, saying they all did well.
He admitted that the home team had the better of the early action.
"During (the first) 20 minutes, the Montego Bay players played a little bit better but after that, we put the ball on the ground and we tried and got results and got the goal," he said.
Lazaroni, who made three changes at half-time bringing on Shane Crawford, Antholow Dawkins and Bennett for Jackson, Williams and Dean respectively, said the team showed "more confidence", thus scoring three more goals and creating many other chances.
Among the St. James team, Lazaroni said he was most impressed with former national Under-20 and Under-23 player Daniel Ricketts, who he said created the most problems for his team in the first half.
"He (Ricketts) did very well in the first half, but in the second half, we kept one man to mark him better and shut down that threat," Lazaroni said.
The national team took some time to settle down and were caught out by a quick counter attack led by Ricketts, who sent Kemar James away down the right wing. James' low, hard cross found former Herbert Morrison player Bucknor at the far post and he beat Lawrence with a low, hard grounder.
James had several chances to score but missed two very easy chances, once in the 29th and in the 55th minutes when he had only the goalkeeper to beat.
BRILLIANT MOVE
Ricketts hit Lawrence's left upright after a brilliant move in the 36th minute when he sliced through the defence, but came up just short when his chipped shot hit the side of the bar.
The superior physical conditioning of the national team eventually made the difference and the equalising goal was only a matter of time in coming. Kelly, who looked rusty in parts, earned a penalty with his best move of the game when he darted into the penalty area after a neat one-two with Shelton and forced Kirk Hendricks into a foul.
It was mostly one-way traffic in the second half and Stewart put the nationals in front, six minutes into the half, with a glancing header from a free kick taken by Davis.
A breakdown in the St James midfield led to the third goal and Bennett gave the goalkeeper no chance with a rasping drive.
Portmore United's Damion Williams, who had replaced Priestly, gave the crowd something to cheer for when his bicycle kick just missed the crossbar and Chin-Sue, who came on for Harrison, scored with two minutes to go, when his free kick sailed under the body of the goalkeeper.
