SANTOS, Brazil — As teenage sensation Neymar, World Cup veteran Elano and the Santos FC first teamers practised on one of the three training fields here at the Santos training ground yesterday, the second stringers scraped to a 2-1 victory over Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz.

Against the run of play, Leandro put his side in front from an attempted cross in the 33rd minute, as the Jamaicans appealed for an off-side, and though Jamaica duly equalised in the 56th minute through Jason Morrison, Pedro Costa slotted home a penalty in the 77th minute to seal his side’s victory.

It was the second loss for the Jamaicans in as many games, having also gone down 0-2 to Palmeiras FC at the Traffic Football Academy last Friday.

The team will head back to the training fields today before wrapping up its nine-day training camp tomorrow, when they depart for Los Angeles, via New York for the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which kicks off on June 5.

Head coach Muricy Ramalho and his first team held the last practice session at home yesterday, as the team departs today for Paraguay, where they face Cerro Porteno in the return leg of the Copa Libertadores semi-finals. Santos lead the two-way tie 1-0 after last Wednesday’s action.

It took the Reggae Boyz three hours to bus down to Santos from Porto Feliz, arriving at the venue a little less than an hour to kick off, and therefore it was no surprise that they started second best, to the more fleet-footed second stringers.

However, the Boyz gradually came into their own to take control of the game, though their finishing left a lot to be desired.

On the half-hour mark of the 80-minute game, Omar Daley sped past his marker on the right hand side of the field, but his finish failed to match his enterprise, his firm right-footer skimming the outside of the goal frame.

Santos replied and Leandro provided a neat finish from the left, beating Dwayne Miller at his near post from a left-sided, grounded cross.

Immediately after the resumption, Miller had to be alert to get a strong hand to a rasping free-kick to keep his team in the game.

The Boyz reasserted control of the game, but their play in the final third could not match their composure and precision, as in other sections of the field.

Nonetheless they pushed on and duly gained parity when Rudolph Austin, clearly one of the best players on the pitch, did excellent work on the right to provide a cross, which was deflected to a waiting Morrison, who applied the perfect finish, a firm left-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area.

At the other end of the field, the Jamaicans appeared to have lost concentration and their defensive co-ordination appeared out of sync, and it was no surprise when a striker was tripped up inside the box by a retreating Eric Vernan, which resulted in a penalty. Pedro Castro easily converted.

It was the second penalty conceded by the Jamaicans in as many games, and it must be of some concern to head coach Theodore Whitmore.

Immediately after conceding though, the Boyz were presented with the perfect opportunity to reply positively, but substitute Damion Williams wasted his chance, rifling straight to the goalkeeper from a similar position to Morrison’s.

And with time running out, Shavar Thomas misdirected another Austin cross.

Whitmore was pleased with the effort, if not the result.

“It was a much-improved performance,” he said at game’s end. “We were a lot more organised, we had a lot of possession, which was the key for us.”

However, he believes that the team can be more aggressive, especially in the defensive third, but he was pleased with the overall effort.

Jamaica — Dwayne Miller, Shavar Thomas, Adrian Reid, Demar Phillips, Eric Vernan, Rudolph Austin, Jason Morrison (Richard Edwards 75th), Omar Daley (Dane Richards 64th), Navion Body (Luton Shelton 64th), Keammar Daley (Damion Williams 75th), Ryan Johnson.

Sub not used: Duwayne Kerr