Jermaine Lannaman, Star Writer

Jamaica's junior Reggae Boyz narrowly missed out on a perfect start to the final round of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualifiers when they succumbed to pressure from Haiti, who netted an 87th-minute goal, securing a 1-1 draw in Kingstown, St Vincent and Grenadines yesterday.

The Jamaicans, along with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the hosts are vying for the lone automatic spot to the CONCACAF round of the play-offs, which will be played in Trinidad and Tobago in March. The prolific Dever Orgill gave the young Boyz the lead in the 55th minute, but three minutes towards the end of regulation time, Haiti, on the counter, equalised through Fitznel Louis.

happy with result

"We were pumped up for the game, as we all knew the importance of it and wanted to start by setting the tone with a win; it didn't happen. But we are happy with the result," said Jamaica's coach, Donovan Duckie.

"I thought we did out best by containing the Haitian team in the first half, as they were moving off the ball well and played well in transition.

"At half time we had a talk and changed our strategy and began to take the game to them, and it paid off for us, when Dever Orgill scored, and gave us the lead," said Duckie, who has been in charge of the team for over a year.

Lenworth Hyde Sr, the Boyz's assistant coach, who, like Duckie, shared Duckie's sentiments, saying that it was a top-quality match-up that the spectators enjoyed.

"It was a very, very good game. The players played their best and played their hearts out," said Hyde. "It was very competitive. The Haitian team is a quality team and we also showed a lot of quality."

Meanwhile, Duckie, who is optimistic about the team's chances in the next games, added the team would take the remainder of the play-off in stride.

"We know what we can do. We are not thinking about the opponent. We are now (last night) getting a chance to see Dominica and St Vincent, and we are planning to be victorious," he said.

evenly favoured

Jamaica and Haiti are about evenly favoured to win the group, but should either fail, the loser is expected to face Honduras in a play-off series to decide the final qualifier for the CONCACAF round. The teams are now tied on one point each, and up to press time last night were awaiting the result of the St Vincent and Dominica game, which was tied at 0-0.

The Boyz will next turn their attention to the Dominican Republic, who they will play tomorrow, before closing out their quest on Tuesday against the hosts.