VERACRUZ, Panama — National Under-17 assistant coach Omar Edwards has defended his team’s physical approach in the draw with Panama at the Estadio Muquita Sanchez on Saturday’s opening day of the CONCACAF Championships.

Junior Flemmings’ penalty kick gave Jamaica a first-half lead, but a late Panama equaliser forced the points to be shared.

The visitors had only nine players on the pitch at the end because Ryan Miller was handed a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident and Tyshan Hill was shown a second yellow card seconds before the final whistle.

Martin Davis, Khallil Stewart, I’ishmale Currie, and Junior Flemmings were also cautioned in the bruising contest, which was officiated by two Mexicans and two Hondurans.

Edwards, deputy to head coach Wendell Downswell, laid some blame at the feet of the match officials.

“There were yellow cards (given) that we thought were justified, but the vast majority of the yellow cards were really not yellow cards,” he told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

When pressed on whether the Young Reggae Boyz were too heavy with a few of the challenges, the assistant coach reasoned that the game had to be played with some level of aggression.

“I wouldn’t say the tackling was over-exuberant. We were playing against the host country (and) we knew they wouldn’t come and play us soft and roll over and die. We did what we had to do to get a point, and with a bit more luck we could

have collected all three points,” Edwards said.

Though there was some controversy over the sending-off of Miller, the Jamaican management staff opted not to appeal the card.

Still, Edwards directed aim at the incident, where it is felt Miller struck an opponent standing behind him.

“The red card given to Ryan Miller… we (the technical staff) believe that card was especially unjustified. Based on the replay, I didn’t see that he elbowed the player. The angle wasn’t the best, but based on what we saw there wasn’t any contact, so it didn’t warrant that red card,” he said.

He went on to suggest that he always expected the home team to get the majority of the decisions going their way and argued that his players will learn from that experience.

“It was tough for us… we were playing against the host country and we knew from the outset that we wouldn’t get some of those calls. But it is something we have to live with and our players will learn from it,” he said.