Sainte-Luce, Martinique — It is every sportsman’s wish to contribute to the success of his team, and new Reggae Boy Shaun Francis is no different.

The 24-year-old Columbus Crew defender notched his first international goal for Jamaica in the Boyz’s 2-0 victory over Guadeloupe at the Riviere Pilote Sports Complex on Monday night.

And although the former Glenmuir High School daCosta Cup champion was happy with his strike, he was more elated with the context of the game at the time.

“It wasn’t a matter about how I felt at the time, it was a matter of the game we were playing… we were doing a pretty good job but the score was still nil-all. So, for the goal to come at that point it was very good for the team to have a relief of the tension of the game, the speed of the game that was there between us and the Guadeloupe team. So, it wasn’t a matter of me getting my first goal, it was a goal for the team,” the soft-spoken left-sided play told the Observer.

Francis had earlier seen his goalbound shot charged down inside the penalty area, but on 53 minutes Dane Richards did good work on the right before serving an inviting cross which the Mandeville native met with a firm header to settle the nerves of his teammates.

“It was a good feeling, as you always want to score a goal for your national team — a lot of people have played for their national team and have never scored a goal — and I’m fortunate to score one as early as my fourth game so I would like to continue scoring,” he said.

“The players told me congratulations and that I’m doing a good job and I just need to keep it up, continue playing hard and continue to represent my country. The coaching staff congratulated me as well.”

After leaving Glenmuir High in 2006, Francis enrolled at the Lindsey Wilson College, where he netted seven goals in 61 appearances, and was captain of the 2009 NAIA National Championship.

He was drafted in the fourth round (63rd overall) of the 2010 MS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew and was signed in March to fill one of the clubs four developmental roster spots. In July he made his debut for the club.

Now he’s enjoying his team in the national set-up and is looking forward to a long and successful career with the reggae Boyz.

“I’m enjoying my time in the programme because I haven’t been around my culture and my friends for a long time because I’ve been abroad playing with my club team, so it was always a fun time to come back and join with players I’ve been playing with from I was younger, so I enjoy being here with them,” he admitted.

And he believes that the players, currently here participating in the Digicel Caribbean Cup, have put their recent impasse with the JFF firmly behind them and are focused on retaining their title.

“We responded well because the main focus was the competition — whatever happened was in the past — and we’re still focused on winning the tournament, so we are always going to go out there and do our best.”

Going forward in the competition Francis sees rest and recovery as the main obstacles facing the team.