PARAMARIBO, Suriname — Jamaica recovered from a nervy start to beat a pesky St Vincent and the Grenadines team 2-0 yesterday at the Andre Kamperveen Stadium in Paramaribo to kick off their Caribbean Football Union (CFU) first-round Under-23 Olympic qualifiers on a positive note.

Midfielder Romeo Parkes struck a sensational opener in the 51st minute before right-back Leaunghn Williams tapped in an easy second in the 70th to seal the win for the Jamaicans.

Head coach Alfredo Montesso said he was happy with winning the opener, but expressed disappointment that the Young Reggae Boyz unnecessarily gave away the ball on numerous occasions in the first half.

“We had a very nervous first half and tried to play too many unnecessary forward balls. We wanted to make the final pass too early and because they (St Vincent and the Grenadines) stood back defensively we were playing into the game that they set.

“When the Opposition got the ball they were then able to use the speed of their attackers upfront to trouble us on a few occasions,” he told the Observer after the game.

The speedy St Vincent frontline put Jamaica under pressure as early as the seventh minute, but the Reggae Boyz averted the danger with a last-ditch clearance 10 yards from the goal mouth.

Two minutes later St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) threatened again after neat exchanges in midfield released the fleet-footed Cornelius Stewart, but his effort was struck tamely at Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Jamaica’s forward Andre Clennon almost put his team ahead against the run of play in the 15th minute, but his glancing header from Evan Taylor’s long throw-in crept wide of the SVG goal.

Seemingly rattled by the energy displayed by the opposition, the Jamaican midfield, led by Taylor, constantly surrendered possession and was guilty of attempting too many long balls.

Their defence was also far from its best and Blake was lucky not to concede when St Vincent’s captain Samuel Myron and Stewart capitalised on a misunderstanding in the 18-yard box, but the latter’s goalbound effort deflected wide off the back of a defender.

Jamaica began the second half with more purpose and reaped dividends just six minutes in, when Parkes pounced on a partial clearance just outside the box, controlled with his chest and then rifled a right-footed half-volley in the top right corner of St Vincent-custodian Dwaine Sandy’s goal.

The Vincentians remained a threat in attack, but were burnt a second time when substitute Andrae Bernal waltzed past his marker to race to the goal line before crossing for Williams to stab home the insurance goal.

Montesso said a more patient game from his players in the second half was the main reason for victory.

“The players took long to adjust, but I had to be on my feet for almost the entire game to tell them to be calm and patient. They did that in the second half and we could see more space being created and things started to happen.

“(In the) first half the St Vincent team had their way and created the two best chances in that period,” he said.

In the second match of the double-header, hosts Suriname were leading the Cayman Islands 3-0 at half-time.

Jamaica will now turn their attention to the Cayman Islands game which is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The last round of matches will be played on Sunday, with Jamaica set to face Suriname in a possible group decider.