SAINTE-LUCE, Martinique – Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz placed their off the field problems firmly behind them and blanked Guadeloupe 2-0 in their second game of the 2010 Digicel Caribbean Cup to book their place in the semi-finals as group winners here at the Riviere Pilote Sports Complex last night.

Shaun Francis opened the scoring in the 53rd minute and substitute Ryan Johnson made the game safe in time added to push the Jamaicans to maximum six points in Group I, three ahead of Antigua and Barbuda, who edged Guyana 1-0 in the first game of the double header.

Guadeloupe and Guyana remain at the bottom of the four-team table on one point.

The win came at a price as the Boyz picked up three cautions, with captain Shavar Thomas, Rodolph Austin and Troy Smith being the guilty parties. It was the second for Thomas and Austin, which means that they must serve a one match suspension in what will be a meaningless encounter against Guyana tomorrow night.

The victory also ensured qualification to next summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, as the top four teams in the Caribbean Cup advance to that regional showpiece event. Jamaica joined Cuba from Group H, as the early qualifiers for the semis.

In their desperate bid to get something positive from the game, Guadeloupe’s coach Salnot Roger made four changes to the team which started against Guyana on Saturday night, but the strategy seemed to have made no difference as the Jamaicans grabbed an early control of the game, but failed to turn their superiority into anything tangible.

In the very first minute of play, New York Red Bulls’ Dane Richards made his intensions known when he rifled a shot from just outside the penalty area which forced goalkeeper Yohann Bus into a fine save, turning the ball around the right upright.

Then midway into the half, Luton Shelton, who scored two goals in the opening game, scraped the far upright when his neat header flashed by with Bus stranded, after Keammar Daley had provided a teasing cross.

Francis then went close, but had his shot blocked from close range, and Lovell Palmer wasted a great opportunity after Daley split the defence with a well-weighted through ball – the Houston Dynamo midfielder being let down by a poor first touch, giving the Jamaicans nothing to show for their complete dominance of the first 45 minutes.

With Jamaica’s wastefulness, Guadeloupe might have sensed that it was going to be their night and they started the better of the teams early in the second half and had not one but two great opportunities to go ahead through skipper Stephane Auvray, a teammate of Thomas at Kansas City Wizards.

First Auvray’s firm shot from just inside the penalty box was well saved by Dwayne Miller, and a minute later Auvray, from even closer to Miller’s goal frame, directed a header wide of the target when left unmarked during a period of panic from the Jamaican defenders.

Oftentimes teams are made to pay for those kinds of misses, and the French-speaking team did not have long to wait for their judgement, as during one of the brief controlled passing moves by the Jamaicans, the Reggae Boyz went ahead.

The Boyz played the ball through the middle of the park, and eventually found Richards wide right. The speedy winger then used his trickery to get behind the defence and his inviting cross was met by a firm header from Francis, for his first international goal.

Richards, who tormented the much bigger Gwada Boys all night, then provided Shelton with a great opportunity to add to his two-goal tournament tally, but Jamaica’s all-time leading scorer somehow conspired to boot the ball high over the crossbar from seven yards.

As Guadeloupe pressed for an equaliser, Jamaica made the game difficult for themselves by omitting the passing game and gifting possession away cheaply, but in time added substitute Richard Edwards stole possession of the ball deep inside the penalty area after Bus made a mess of a clearance.

The Harbour View midfielder then smartly served Johnson, who strolled home easily from 14 yards between a couple defenders to seal the deal.

In the first match, Antigua and Barbuda stormed back into contention when Gason Gregory, who scored the free-kick against Jamaica in their 1-3 loss on Saturday night, found the winner with another rasping left-footer which wrong-footed goalkeeper Ronson Williams in the 69th minute.

But they had to endure some anxious closing moments as the South Americans threw everything into attack and almost stole a point on a few occasions, the most glaring being when striker Devon Millington headed against the base of the upright, with Molvin James well and truly beaten.

Teams: Jamaica – Dwayne Miller, Shavar Thomas, Adrian Reid, Jermaine Taylor, Rodolph Austin, Lovell Palmer, Shaun Francis (Troy Smith 75th), Keammar Daley, Dane Richards (Richard Edwards 82nd), Luton Shelton, Omar Cummings (Ryan Johnson 65th).

Booked: Thomas (59th), Austin (76th), Smith (90th)

Subs not used: Richard McCallum, Sergio Campbell, Keneil Moodie, Eric Vernan.

Guadeloupe – Yohann Bus, Ulick Lupede, Dominique Mocka (Cedric Collet 58th), Stephane Auvray, Ludovic Gotin (Livio Nabab 67th), Jean Luc Lamboude, Julien Ictoi, Lery hanany (Fabien Belson 52nd), Eddy Viator, Larry Clavier, Loic loval.

Booked: None

Subs not used: Marius Fausta, Kevin Lacroix, Mathias Babel, Mickael Nicoise.

Referee: Walter Lopez (Guatemala)

Assistant Referees: Ricardo Louisville (Suriname), Egbert Paesch (Aruba)

Fourth Official: Lee Davis (Trinidad and Tobago)