KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Hosts Jamaica and Cuba secured tentative wins in Group B of the Caribbean Football Union Men’s Under-20 finals here Tuesday.
While Jamaica edged Antigua and Barbuda 1-0, the Cuban side got the better of Suriname, 2-1 in a doubleheader at the Stadium East Sports Complex.
Jamaica clinched victory through a 42nd minute strike by Oshane Boothe, which left them second in the standings on goal difference behind Cuba. In the opening game, Arichel Hernandez Mora netted a first half brace to lead the Cubans to a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break, before Miquel Darson pulled one back with his early second half strike.
Mora got on the score sheet in the 25th minute before doubling Cuba’s lead on the stroke of halftime.
Darson wasted little time in hitting back for Suriname, however, when he scored immediately on resumption.
The Surinamese failed to find the decisive goal that would have given them a share of the points.
“We know the importance of the first win. It gives us a lot of easiness,” Cuba’s coach Raul Gonzales Triana said.
“We are going to think about Antigua, our next rivals, and try to achieve three more points and that will put us in a very privileged situation. Then we will think about Jamaica.”
Last  evening, Curacao and Trinidad and Tobago were due  do battle in the first game while Puerto Rico meet Curacao in the other fixture.