Audley Boyd, Assistant Sports Editor

WINFRIED Schäfer bemoaned Jamaica's finishing against Martinique in their opening CFU Caribbean Cup Finals match at Montego Bay Sports Complex last night, which ended in an undesirable 1-1 result.

"I am not happy about the result," the Reggae Boyz coach said at the post-game press conference.

Jamaica, Martinique, and the other teams in the group, Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda, are tied on one point each after the opening games. With two remaining games each, and only the group winner to advance, Haiti and Antigua are in front by virtue of having scored more goals.

"We have to win the next match," Schäfer noted of tomorrow's game against Haiti, who drew 2-2 with Antigua in the opening game.

Darren Mattocks shot the Reggae Boyz into the lead at the 13th minute, while Yoann Arquin equalised for Martinique at the 29th.

With Martinique committing less players and pressure, Jamaica were fairly comfortable with possession at the defensive end of the pitch.

However, they had great difficulty getting their attacking midfielders involved in the game, which significantly impacted their chances to work plays through Martinique's defence with passing.

disadvantage

They moved the ball too slowly and allowed Martinique to get close. It created a disadvantage. The Reggae Boyz were not as big, or strong, and often muscled off the ball.

"We saw where they were not comfortable on the ball. They did not control the ball well, they did not play like Jamaica, they did not play like a big team," said key Martinique midfielder, Julien Faubert, about his team pressing Jamaica in midfield.

As such, most of Jamaica's offensives were generated through long passes from Rodolph Austin, which sometimes gave the three-pronged frontline of Mattocks, Dane Richards and Deshorn Brown opportunities to break behind or just in front the Martinique backline.

Poor crosses and selfish plays though - from the strikers - often closed the openings that could have been transformed into clear scoring opportunities with passes to teammates offering support.

Martinique got two early chances, but Harry Novillo could not finish from an angle and Remi Mareval fired wide from a melee.

Arquinn, though, was more clinical, with his first touch to control a long pass behind Nyron Nosworthy, then with his finish, which squirted through the legs of goalkeeper Andre Blake into an unguarded net.

With the result even, the Jamaicans had to respond in the second half. They were smarter, moved the ball quicker to eliminate contact and easily dominated possession by running Martinique around the pitch. Mostly, the French territory was forced into defending. They never always did it cleanly, using hands and just any other part of their bodies to stop Jamaican momentum.

"No one expected this result," Faubert shared. "People were talking about Martinique were going to lose 8-0. But that's not how it goes, you have to win on the field."