A 58th-minute strike by Kahiem Dixon led the Jamaican Reggae Boyz to a 1-0 victory over their counterparts from T&T in Friday's international friendly encounter at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, Port-of-Spain.
The game, held as a closed-door match because of ongoing work for this weekend's Carifta Trials, saw national coach Angus Eve use all of his overseas-based players in the match, as he continues to search for his best team to face Canada in the Concacaf Play-In on March 24 at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, USA.
The winner of that match will earn automatic qualification to the Copa America Cup, later this year.
Coincidentally, the Jamaicans, who lost to the Soca Warriors in the first match of two friendlies in Jamaica in Mrch, last year by the same scoreline, had now replicated that result.
In the 58th minute yesterday, Dixon galloped onto a through ball to beat goalkeeper Adrian Foncette in the T&T goal for a 1-0 advantage. Later, the teams pressed each other, but neither could have scored another goal, as the Jamaican escaped with the 1-0 victory.
After the game Eve said he was not disappointed at all by the exercise.
"We have a lot of players out there playing at this level for the first time and I thought they acquitted themselves very well. We were in the game for the most part and we gave away a sloppy goal and that was the difference between the teams in the game. The idea was to give players exposure, you realised we made a minimum amount of changes and it was because we wanted to expose the guys as much as possible," said Eve.
The teams will meet again Sunday at the Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, Arima from 4 pm, and for this match, fans can catch a glimpse of the action for a fare of $50.
Fans who were denied access to the Stadium on Tuesday last to see the country's Under-20 footballers up against Canada in a crucial, Group D clash, will now have the opportunity to see this game, courtesy of the T&T Football Association.
In addition to the Concacaf Play-In, coach Eve and his troops will begin their quest for qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2026. That World Cup is being put on by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, which is expected to make it easier for T&T and the other Concacaf nations.