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290212
Pacy Jamaica Overcome All Whites
by Jeremy Ruane
New Zealand's All Whites were undone by the pace of Jamaica at Mt. Smart Stadium on February 29, as the Caribbean visitors counter-attacked their way to a 3-2 victory in front of 15,379 partisan fans.
Things could have been a wee bit different had the All Whites not been denied a stonewall penalty in the sixth minute. Tahitian referee Norbert Hauata deemed that play should continue, despite Jamaican goalkeeper Dwayne Miller having felled Marco Rojas in the area after the adventurous Tony Lochhead had teamed up with Jeremy Brockie to prise open the visitors' rearguard.
The Reggae Boyz responded in the twelfth minute through Jermaine Taylor, who caught Costa Barbarouses in possession on half-way and instantly slid a pass through for Tramaine Stewart to race onto.
Ryan Nelsen outsmarted him on this occasion, but when Stewart next dashed through the All Whites' ranks - Omar Cummings stripped Barbarouses in possession in the twentieth minute and instantly sent his front-running partner dashing through, the speedy striker smacked a deceptive twenty-five yarder at the target which Mark Paston was forced to tip over.
The All Whites' response, three minutes later, saw Rojas whip in a free-kick which had Winston Reid as its intended target. The defender reached the ball at the same time as a Jamaican defender, with the sphere dropping invitingly for Nelsen to let fly.
He managed to get his shot away as Damian Stewart and Miller converged on him, the 'keeper bravely blocking the ball to safety in the midst of the confusion, which left him requiring treatment.
Five minutes later, Tim Brown won the ball in midfield and produced an angled slide-rule pass into the stride of Barbarouses, cutting in off the right. The combined efforts of Troy Smith and Stewart thwarted the progress of the Russian-based striker, at the expense of a corner which referee Hauata deemed to be a goal-kick - this was far from the official's finest hour-and-a-half.
Some fine off-the-ball running by Barbarouses ten minutes before half-time coincided with a surging run from Rojas, who had a terrific match. The instinctive winger was alive to the possibilities, and exploited them, teaming up with Chris Wood to play in Brockie, who should have done better with an effort Miller smothered at his near post.
Four minutes later, Jamaica opened the scoring, a tad against the run of play, it must be said. It was counter-attacking football at its best, a Rojas raid
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being cleared downfield to Cummings, who initially lacked support, but kept the ball alive.
His reward came in the form of Keammar Daly, who linked with Je'Vaughn Watson to bring overlapping fullback Xavian Virgo into play. No-one in the smart new black kit the All Whites were debuting in this match closed him down, so Virgo promptly whipped in a cross-shot which arced over Paston and into the net via the far post.
Within seconds, the All Whites' custodian was dashing out of his goal to deny Tramaine Stewart on the edge of his penalty area, as his team-mates came to terms with the fact they were trailing on the scoreboard.
They quickly rediscovered their attacking verve, however, with McGlinchey and Rojas - the All Whites' foremost attacking threats throughout the match until both were withdrawn after the hour mark - combining prior to the latter working a good opening with Brockie, who profited from a blocked Rojas cross. Sadly for the natives, Miller battered away Brockie's attempt to level the scores before half-time.
Reid was out for the count before then, however, literally. The defender was knocked out by a stray Jamaican elbow, meaning fans' favourite Ben Sigmund entered the fray seconds before the half-time whistle, while Sam Allardyce, Reid's manager at West Ham United, had another reason to be grumpy.
Jamaica began the second half brightly, Tramaine Stewart and Cummings combining on the counter-attack inside two minutes to forge an opening. As the latter passed to the former, Nelsen arrived on the scene, prompting Stewart to shoot wildly over the bar.
He was far more accurate in the 53rd minute, however, as the visitors doubled their advantage. Daly won the ball half-way inside the All Whites half, and Cummings instantly sent Stewart spearing through the spreadeagled rearguard of the home team. He held off a challenge before firing home under the diving figure of Paston.
Jamaica's two-goal advantage was short-lived, for within two minutes, the All Whites were on the board. Again, it was the combination of McGlinchey and Rojas which paved the way, the latter feeding Wood before moving up to support his team-mate.
Wood duly rewarded Rojas' run, and a jinking surge at the defence took a couple of opponents out of the equation before Rojas slipped an inviting pass
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into the stride of Wood, which he fair buried from the edge of the penalty area - 2-1, game on!
Tommy Smith saw his header grabbed by Miller two minutes later, as Rojas featured in another enterprising move, while after the explosive pace of Luton Shelton had shredded the All Whites' defence - the fleet-footed flyer fired wide of the far post, Rojas' deep cross for Nelsen was driven back into the goalmouth by the All Whites' captain, with Smith steering the ball goalwards in the 67th minute.
His effort crept narrowly past the post on this occasion, while attempts from debutant Dan Keat and Brown didn't miss by much in the next five minutes. But the contest was all but settled thirteen minutes from time when Jamaica struck on the counter-attack once more.
Shelton led the charge, and produced an inch-perfect pass into the stride of substitute Navian Boyd, who raced on before firing home across Paston and in by the far post - 3-1 to the visitors.
The All Whites attempted a fightback, but were too often let down by stray passes - Brockie, in particular, let the side down in this regard. They missed, too, the by now substituted McGlinchey and Rojas, although the latter's replacement, Leo Bertos, created openings with his crosses and set-pieces.
Indeed, it was from a Bertos cross that Smith saw Miller parry his drive in the 79th minute. The impressively performed defender was then brought to ground in the penalty area as he looked to latch onto the rebound - another penalty, surely. Referee Hauata had other ideas - play on!
A minute from time, substitute Chris Killen headed home a Bertos corner to set up a late rally, but time ran out on the All Whites as they looked to snatch a dramatic equaliser, Smith's header onto the roof of the net from Bertos' clipped free-kick in stoppage time as close as they got to upsetting their higher-ranked opponents, whose pace and counter-attacking prowess proved key components in their 3-2 win.
All Whites: Paston; W. Reid (Sigmund, 45), Nelsen (Vicelich, 89), Smith; Brockie, McGlinchey (Keat, 64), Brown, Lochhead; Barbarouses (Killen, 64), Wood, Rojas (Bertos, 73)
Jamaica: Miller (booked, 90); Virgo, D. Stewart (A. Reid, 88), Davis, Smith; Watson (booked, 21) (James, 82), Daly, Taylor, Shelton (booked, 36); Cummings (Boyd, 64), T. Stewart (Edwards, 72)
Referee: Norbert Hauata (Tahiti)
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