Jamaica's Roland Dean (left) fights for the ball against Barbados's John Parris (centre) and Gregory Goodridge at the National Stadium in St Michael, Barbados yesterday. Jamaica won 1-0. (Photo: AP)

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Jamaica and Cuba advanced to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup following contrasting victories over Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago here at the National Stadium here last night.

The Cubans booked their place after a smart 2-1 victory over Trinidad and Tobago, while Jamaica limped into the Gold Cup Finals after they were gifted a 1-0 victory in the feature.

WILLIAMS.scored a bizarre goal

Jamaica went ahead fortuitously, thanks to the home side's goaltender Jason Boxhill. In a most bizarre circumstance, Boxhill claimed possession of the ball inside his penalty area, then proceeded to place the ball on the ground in the presence of Jamaican captain Andy Williams, who slotted the ball into an unguarded net on eight minutes.

The goalkeeper then appealed to the officials, claiming an offside, but neither the active assistant referee nor the man in the middle had indicated offside, and after a few minutes of protest, the goal was correctly allowed to stand.

The goal apart, the Reggae Boyz had little to cheer about for the 90 minutes, as they played a huge part in a contest of poor quality. They were lackadaisical and lethargic throughout.

And even when Barbados lost their captain John Parris, through a red card early in the second half, the Jamaicans, though breaking through on goal on a few occasions, did little to justify their position as the favourites to lift the Digicel Caribbean Cup tomorrow night.

Coach Wendell Downswell will have to find some means of energising his forces, because they should know that any reproduction of last night's performance would gift the Cubans the Caribbean title.

In the first game, Lester More hit a brace to lead Cuba to a come-from-behind win over Trinidad and Tobago. Cornell Glen scored for T&T.

Teams:

Jamaica - Shawn Sawyers, Jermaine Taylor, Damion Stewart, Tyrone Marshall, Garfield Reid, Fabian Davis, Omar Daley (Keith Kelly 72nd), Jermaine Hue (Khari Stephenson 63rd), Andy Williams, Luton Shelton and Roland Dean (Teofore Bennett 68th).

Booked: Marshall (34th), Reid (43rd)

Subs not used: L Murray, T Sawyers, R Scarlett, N Sterling

Barbados - Jason Boxhill, Dyson James, Elvis DeFreitas, Kirk Cox, Paul Lovell, Ryan Lucas, Gregory Goodridge, Llewelyn Riley, John Parris, Norman Forde and Romelle Braithwaite.

Booked: Norman Forde (47th), Parris (ejected 54th)

Subs not used: B Howell, M Forde, S Grovesnor

Referee: Neal Brizan (T&T)

Assistant Referees: Joseph Taylor (T&T) and Eris Martheli (Martinique)

Fourth Official:Barney Callender (Barbados)

Match Commissary: Chet Green

Referees Inspector: Victor Moore (Barbados)

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World