Jamaica get past Haiti 3-2 in CONCACAF Nations League
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Jamaica came from a goal down before holding off Haiti 3-2 in their Group B match in League A of the CONCACAF Nations League at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.
Demarai Gray and Shamar Nicholson —who scored in their 4-1 win over Grenada last week— and Leon Bailey scored for Jamaica as Frantzdy Pierrot scored two headers to achieve Haiti’s goals.
The win saw Jamaica maintain their lead in the group with 10 points after they had qualified for the quarterfinals earlier while the loss was costly for Haiti as they will be relegated to League B.
Honduras are second in Group B with seven points after beating Cuba 4-0 while Suriname are third on five points after also beating Grenada 4-0.
As they did in their first game played in Kingston on September 12, Haiti took the lead when Pierrot’s header beat goalkeeper Andre Blake at his near left post in the 15th minute.
The lead lasted three minutes before Gray pounced on a poor clearance and powered the ball past Haiti’s goalkeeper Jhony Placide to tie up the scores.
Nicholson, who replaced Dujuan Richards at the start of the second half gave Jamaica the lead in the 57th minute when his shot from the left side, squeezed under the body of the Haitian custodian.
Bailey extended the lead in the 66th minute when he ran on to a free kick from Daniel Johnson and gave Placide no chance with a well-placed shot.
Pierrot made the last few minutes interesting when he scored from another header.
-Paul A Reid