CATHERINE HALL, St James — Jamaican coach Theodore Whitmore tried hard to come up with a positive from Jamaica’s 0-2 loss to Venezuela at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Friday night.

In a post-game press conference after first saying the game was “a good experience overall” and that the Reggae Boyz had a “good first half”, Whitmore later said there was not much positives from the game.

The South Americans, who came into the game 15 places below Jamaica on the FIFA rankings and had not won in four previous games, got second-half goals less than a minute apart for only their second win over Jamaica and their first here.

Fedor Nicholas and Alejandro Moreno, who later acted as translator, scored for the Venezuelan team that dominated the second half against an uninspired-looking Jamaica in front of a half-full venue.

Jamaica lost central defender Jermaine Taylor who just recently transferred to MLS outfit Houston Dynamo to an unspecified injury and that loss, Whitmore said, helped to start the decline.

Taylor was substituted at the start of the second half with Damion Williams coming in and Rudolph Austin dropping back in defence.

Even before the loss of Taylor, however, the game failed to move from a pedestrian pace, with the teams combining for two shots on goal and four yellow cards in the first 45 minutes.

Goalkeeper Dwayne Miller was the one bright spot for the Jamaicans, pulling off a string of fine saves, especially in the second half when the Reggae Boys were forced back in their own half for long periods.

Whitmore said one of the reasons for the less than spectacular performance could be that they players were coming together for the first time since the December Digicel Caribbean Cup, and some of the players, the ones based in Scandinavian teams, were out of season.

The Jamaican coach conceded, “There is a lot of work still to do”, but was grateful they still had time to get things right before the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Venezuela’s coach Cesar Farias was happy for the win going into their game against Mexico in California on Tuesday and told the press conference through the translator, “It was important to have handled a team as fast and physical as Jamaica.”

He said the Venezuelans, who were preparing for the start of the South American qualifying series, had achieved their objectives, which were “playing in a difficult place and handling a fast, physical team”.

After a drab first half which saw overlapping defender Dicoy Williams get the only shot on target, Jamaica were forced onto the backfoot.

Two fine saves were made by by Miller, going to his left to force a shot from Chourio Angel for a corner, then tipping over a point-blank header for another corner minutes later.

A defensive breakdown left the right side of the Jamaica goal exposed and Nicholas poked home a goal in the 66th minute, and les than a minute later, Moreno powered home from close range to double the scores.

By this time the Venezuelans were all over the Jamaicans and threatened to blow the game wide open, but for two more outstanding saves from Miller, coming off his line to break up attacks after the defence got breached.

Kavin Bryan, who replaced Omar Cummings, added some life in the Jamaican attack late in the game, but hit his one good chance over the bar.

Teams:

Jamaica — Dwayne Miller, Shavar Thomas, Jermaine Taylor (Damion Williams-46th), Dicoy Williams, Demar Phillips (Troy Smith), Rudolph Austin, Khari Stephenson (Vincent Earle), Jevaughn Watson (Navion Boyd), Omar Cummings (Kavin Bryan), Dane Richards (Francoise Swaby), Eric Vernan

Subs not used: Duwayne Kerr, Montrose Phinn, Xavian Virgo

Booked: Taylor-21st, Philips- 42nd

Venezuela — Jose Morales, Chourio Angel (Jesus Gomez), Rosales Roberto (Franklin Lucena), Cichero Gabriel, Luis Maunel Seijas (Orozco Yohandry), Fedor Nicholas (Juan Fuenmayor), Giacomo Di Giorgi, Tomas Rincon, Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Grenddy Perozo, Alejandro Moreno (Mario Randon)

Subs not used: Rafael Romo, Carlos Salazar, Evelio Hernadez, Daniel Arismendi, Rivero carlos, Chancellor Jhon, Rey Jose Manuel

Booked: Vazcarrondo-17th, Roberto-42nd

Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (Suriname)

Assistants: Ricardo Morgan, Garnet Page

Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison

Match Commissioner: David Watt

Referee Assessor: Lloyd Harrison