GORDON WILLIAMS, Contributor
Left: Jamaica's goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts let in a soft goal. Right: Ben Olson ... scored American equaliser - FILE
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA:
JAMAICA SURRENDERED AN early lead and survived a second half attacking blitz to earn a hard fought 1-1 draw with World Cup-bound the United States in a friendly football international last night at the SAS Soccer Park here.
The result, a creditable one the Reggae Boyz, did not, however, snap their winless streak against their CONCACAF rivals. Jamaica's record now stands at nine losses and eight draws versus the U.S.
A classy early goal from Teofore Bennett, resulting from a beautiful defence-splitting pass by Jermaine Hue, gave the Reggae Boyz a surprising early lead on a cool night ideal for football.
But the U.S.would rally for the equaliser with a first half strike of their own as Ben Olsen took a quick pass from captain Landon Donovan in the 25th minute to beat Donovan Ricketts with a shot the Jamaica captain blocked initially, but could only watch as it rolled into the net. Nevertheless, Jamaica's technical director Wendell Downswell was pleased with the result, earned by a squad far short of international experience.
"We were definitely looking for the (first) win," Downswell said after the game. "Hopefully we thought we would have gotten it, but it was just unfortunate. We made a blatant mistake from that ball (free kick) and they converted. But overall I'm pretty satisfied with what has happened."
U.S. coach Bruce Arena, who will select his squad for Germany the first week of May, was also complimentary of the Boyz' effort.
GREAT EFFORT
"Give Jamaica credit," Arena said afterwards. "I thought they did well. For the night I thought they gave great effort."
Jamaica, however, started a bit shaky in front of a crowd of 8,093 spectators dominated by the red, white and blue colours of the home team. Damion Stewart appeared to misjudge a forward pass by the U.S. in the second minute and Claude Davis, supporting him, made a poor back pass that forced a hurried clearance from Donovan Ricketts in goal.
Yet the Reggae Boyz almost immediately turned it around. Hue found the unmarked Bennett on a diagonal run, which split Eddie Pope and Pablo Mastroeni in central defence for the U.S. Bennett beat advancing Tony Meaola to the far post to stun the crowd, which contained only a sprinkling of Jamaican supporters, into silence.
For Meola, it was a sour start to his 100th international for the U.S.
The goal seemed to inject a bit of confidence in Jamaica's play, even as the U.S. showed a clear preference to attack Jamaica's left side, with Frankie Hejduk and Steve Ralston taking turns in running at Garfield Reid. In the third minute a good build-up by U.S. resulted in a deflected shot by Ben Olsen for a corner. Another attack produced a sixth minute corner from Landon Donovan which Pope headed just over the bar.
Another corner in the 17th minute was almost turned into an own goal for the U.S. The corner which ensued from the deflection was taken by Donovan, whose swerving delivery was badly missed by Ricketts and eventually cleared away.
In midfield, although the U.S. did not appear totally comfortable against the individual flair of the Jamaicans, especially Hue and Jamal Campbell-Ryce, they swarmed the area to carve out several opportunities of their own as Jamaica's Khari Stephenson and Jason Morrison struggled for control in Jamaica's 4-4-2 formation. As Jamaica sat deep in defence, Ben Olsen, Donovan, Pat Noonan and Steve Ralston were allowed to roam.
Jamaica also appeared unsure in defence early, and matters only got worse when Claude Davis, who was shaken up earlier, left the game with a head injury in the 29th minute. That was not, however, before the U.S. had a deserved equaliser through what could only be described as a soft goal.
RASH CHALLENGE
A 28th minute yellow card for Pope for a rash challenge signalled the tempo of the game had escalated with the equaliser as well. Hue sent the resulting free kick skimming just over the bar. A minute later Jamaica replaced Davis with Demar Stewart, a change which brought the two Stewart brothers to the heart of Jamaica's defence. Yet Jamaica threatened in attack. In the 32nd minute, a tantalising run down the right side by Jamal Campbell-Ryce resulted in a teasing cross to the far post. But debutant Ryan Johnson's header could only be directed across the face of the goal and eventually cleared away.
In the 35th, Omar Daley raced down the right side, but his cross was met by another weak header by Johnson.
At half-time, the U.S. sought more attacking punch by making a double switch up front. Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching replaced ineffective Taylor Twellman and Josh Wolfe. In the 54th Ching's header forced Ricketts to tip over the bar from a corner. Several other changes would follow as the home team sought a morale boosting win.
The pressing U.S. forced Jamaica into a defensive shell, limited to brief forays into the U.S. half of the field. However, substitute Fabian Dawkins could have snatched a win for the Reggae Boyz, but his 84th minute shot, after a surging dribble forward, just skimmed by the far post.
Meanwhile, several corners resulted for the U.S. as the game wore on and the home team came close on a few other occasions, including an injury time free kick by Donovan which was deflected over the bar. But the less experienced Jamaica squad, which emptied its bench with the exception of goalkeeper Shawn Sawyers, was not ready to surrender.
JAMAICA:
Donovan Ricketts (captain), Claude Davis (29th, Demar Stewart), Damion Stewart, Garfield Reid (booked, 74th), Omar Daley (booked, 34th) , Khari Stephenson (71st, O'Neil Thompson), Jason Morrison (Dane Richards 59th), Jamal Campbell-Ryce (61st, Fabian Dawkins), Jermaine Hue, Teafore Bennett (62nd, Newton Sterling) and Ryan Johnson (71st, Jermaine Johnson).
Subs not used: Shawn Sawyers.
UNITED STATES: Tony Meola, Frankie Hejduk, Chris Albright, Landon Donovan (captain), Pat Noonan (67th, John O'Brien), Ben Olsen, Josh Wolff (46th, Eddie Johnson), Steve Ralston (55th, Clint Dempsey), Taylor Twellman (45th, Brian Ching), Eddie Pope (booked 28th) and Pablo Mastroeni.
Subs not used: Mat Reis, Nick Garcia, Kerry Zavagnin.
Referee and two assistants all from Mexico: Referee Jorge Gasso Flores; assistants Pedro Rebollar Leon and Luis Camargo. The fourth official is Ricardo Salazar of the United States.
Gordon Williams is a Jamaican journalist based in the United States.
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