Local Boyz hold their own

AFTER A game that ebbed and flowed in pace, but was bereft of real quality, Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz walked away from the Omnisport Ahmadou Ahidjo (Yaounde) with a 1-1 draw against a Cameroon side looking to fill three World Cup spots.

Justin McMaster got the Reggae Boyz off the mark in the 62nd minute, before substitute Djawal Kaiba returned parity in the 74th minute.

Neither the Jamaicans nor their Cameroonian hosts started very promisingly, nerves or some such malady forcing regular changes in possession.

The Jamaicans put the ball on the ground first, but struggled whenever they attempted to make forays into the Cameroon defensive third.

On the other hand, while Cameroon’s passing was even more woeful, they did look more dangerous whenever they were in the final third, the Jamaicans looking a little short of pace and power in front of the largely local-based contingent of the hosts.

The centre-half pairing of Jhanoi Topey and stand-in captain Damion Lowe looked in trouble whenever their attackers rolled off their shoulder, and on one such occasion, Lowe was fortunate not to have given up a penalty, with the referee judging that his foul on Souaibou Marou happened just outside the box.

The resulting free kick, struck by inspirational captain Vincent Aboubaker, stung the palms of the diving Jahmali Waite, who had a magnificent outing between the sticks for the Jamaicans.

In fact, Waite was in action for much of the first half, much to the chagrin of Reggae Boyz coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

GOOD AWARENESS

But the ‘keeper, standing in for absent captain Andre Blake, was certainly up to the task, showing good awareness when coming from the box to claim crosses and attempted through balls, and was safe whenever the Cameroonians chose to shoot.

At 0-0 going into the half-time break, there was no certainty about where a goal would come from on either side of the equation, and the second stanza provided no further clarity.

Again, the Reggae Boyz looked to pass the ball around, but errant attempts kept proving their undoing.

In addition, the eager-to-please Cameroonians were becoming more physical, creating a stop-start feel to the encounter.

Still, Cameroon spent more time in the Jamaican half, though they weren’t particularly precise in the final third and so, maybe, it was against the run of play that some quality finally brought the game to life.

Lamar Walker received a pass on the left side of the field midway the Cameroonian half and, using his marker as a shield, played a picture-perfect through ball for McMaster, who timed his run behind the Cameroon centre-half pairing to perfection.

Running on to the well-weighted delivery, McMaster took a couple of touches that pulled the goalkeeper to his left and lifted his effort perfectly to the opposite corner.

The game would return to its normal ebb and flow, mixed in with frequent changes in possession, until Kiaba, who had come on for Louiz Mbah in the 69th minute, sauntered on to a pass down his right flank and unleashed a torrid, right-footed drive that looked like it would have had Waite in trouble.

To make matters worse, the height of the drive changed midway through the shot off the outstretched leg of a Jamaican defender, leaving whatever hope Waite had in saving the effort in tatters.

Again, the ebb and flow of the game returned, with no change ‘til the final whistle.