BALTIMORE, Maryland — No-nonsense Reggae Boyz Captain Rodolph Austin has praised his teammates from the bench for their role in helping the team to victory against El Salvador in the curtain-lowering match of Group B of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday in Toronto.

In the ‘bloody’ contest where Jamaica won 1-0 at the BMO Field, the Boyz were forced into first-half substitutions when central defender Jermaine Taylor got injured in the sixth minute, and 17 minutes later, goalkeeper Dwayne Miller went down and out.

Taylor’s injury, a quadriceps tear, was so serious that he will be out of action for “six or eight weeks”. Conversely, Miller should be back in action in short order after quick checks at hospital revealed no serious damage after an El Salvador player planted a boot in his head.

Also, Jamaica went down to 10 players after striker Darren Mattocks picked up a second yellow card in the 81st minute of the bruising match.

But in the face of the misfortunes, the subs had their moment to shine. In the end, they got their skipper’s endorsement.

Ryan Thompson, the Pittsburg Riverhound goalkeeper, was brilliant between the sticks, while the steady Reading FC centre-back Michael Hector rose to the occasion.

“The other guys who came on did well, everyone is waiting for their chance, and they got theirs and rose to the occasion,” said Austin, who was named Man of the Match, the second such crowning in the tournament.

“I think the players knew from we lost the first two players that we have a game on our hand and we rose to the occasion; everyone ran for each other out there,” said the former Leeds man, summing up the aggressive nature of the game.

“Clearly, some decisions went against us today (Tuesday), but that sums up the game. But in the end, we won and that’s the most important thing,” Austin said after the gruelling contest where seven yellow cards were issued by the Guatemalan referee.

“It was a hard-fought game and I think we showed our strength in our defence and we got a chance at the other end and we put it away… we also showed good team spirit and the will to keep a clean sheet,” he added.

The Boyz skipper has already zoomed in on the quarter-final match-up with Haiti tomorrow at the M&T Bank Stadium at 8:00 pm (7:00 pm Jamaica time).

“It’s good that we topped our group, and the next team is Haiti and we just have to continue doing our best… we just have to go into that positive and keep this momentum going,” noted Austin, who is currently without a club.

And to those who have doubted the Boyz, and who continue to do so, Austin had these words for them:

“That’s (negative view) typical how people think of Jamaica and Jamaicans; it’s good when we can prove people wrong.

“We have a good team spirit and we showed that we believe in ourselves. The people who were talking, we silenced them, so we have to keep doing what we have been doing and let them know that our strength is in the team,” he said.

— Sean Williams