Reggae Boyz ready to battle St Lucia

Howard Walker, Staff Reporter

A CONFIDENT Jamaica kick off their defence of the 2006/07 Digicel Caribbean Cup against St. Lucia in the feature match of a doubleheader at the National Stadium at 7:00 this evening.

In the curtainraiser, Haiti tackle St. Vincent and the Grenadines at 5:00 p.m.

Defending champions Jamaica, ranked 76th in the world, are expected to get the better of a team ranked 115 in their quest to top Group D.

But Jamaica's coach, Carl Brown, knows it won't be an easy task as the rest of the region is catching up.

Tough battles

"There will always be tough battles against us. There is very little that separates us at this time. It's not going to be an easy task," noted Brown.

In two meetings last year, Jamaica were held 1-1 in St. Lucia before winning the return leg 2-1 in Jamaica for 3-2 aggregate win.

In 1989, the teams played to a 1-1 draw in the then Shell Cup with Paul Young scoring for Jamaica and Irvin Hippolyte replying for the St. Lucians.

Carson Millar, coach of St. Lucia, said his team's preparations were going well and they were looking forward to the game.

Said Millar: "It will be a very tough game. Jamaica won't be easy no matter where we play. If we perform well, then we will get a good result. We are prepared to give everything we have got.

Good performances

"The last two times our performances have been very good but I don't think we have closed the gap. We still have a long way to go," he said.

The local-based chapter of the Reggae Boyz, just like last year, will carry the burden of pleasing a public starved of international football.

Last year, the Reggae Boyz used the Digicel Cup to bounce back from their failed World Cup campaign.

They thrashed St. Martin 12-0, the U.S. Virgin Islands 11-0, Haiti 3-1 and then beat St. Lucia 3-2 on aggregate, Trinidad and Tobago 2-1, Barbados 1-0 and clipped Cuba 1-0 in the finals, courtesy of a Newton Sterling goal.

This year, the Reggae Boyz will be looking to captain Fabian Davis, Kevin Lamey, Roland Dean, Sean Fraser, Jason Morrison, Oneil Thompson, Omar Daley, Demar Stewart, Demar Phillips, Damion Williams and Shawn Sawyers.

Strikers Lamey and Dean have been given another chance to resurrect their international careers while midfielders Jason Morrison, Damion Williams, Oneil Thompson, Sean Fraser and Demar Phillips have the platform to become regulars.

Surprisingly, Brown left out central defender Desmond Breakenridge of Waterhouse and included young Boys' Town defender Xavean Virgo.

St. Lucia will be looking to Giovanni Deterville, Randy Poleon, John Perry Joseph, Sheldon Emmanuel, Alvin Xavier, Titus Elva and Jarvin Skeete, (formerly of Arnett Gardens) as their main players.

The Haiti versus St. Vincent and the Grenadines encounter could go either way and should be a tough game. But the French-speaking Haitians, ranked 118 in the world, should have the upper hand over their 129-ranked opponents.