MONTEGO BAY, St James — Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz are revelling in their 3-0 win over Antigua and Barbuda at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, on an evening when the rains kept fans away.

So many people who witnessed the far from impressive 1-1 draw with Martinique in Group B of the CFU Caribbean Cup on Wednesday, missed a stylish Boyz rendition that put them back on course in their chase for regional glory.

The victory was clearly a source of great relief, and the Boyz are savouring every bit of it.

“We were obviously disappointed getting a draw in the first game, so it was very important to get the win tonight (Friday night) and that’s what we did… we needed to give them (the fans) something to shout about and we managed to do that tonight,” said Man-of-the-Match Jobi McAnuff, who has been a standout in midfield so far.

Of note and pleasing to watch was the way the Jamaicans possessed the ball and their general positive approach play.

“We enjoyed the ball and we passed it well, and we got three goals though we could have had some more, but what was also good is that we kept a clean sheet and that will give us a good platform for the big game coming up,” said the Leyton Orient man.

McAnuff, 33, a considered elder of the team, saluted his performance and that of the rest of the team.

“Yeah, I’m happy, but I think everybody stepped up tonight (Friday). I believe Rodolph Austin was top draw tonight, and I must say that everybody played their part, and I really think it was a good performance with also people coming off the bench and contributing also, which I think will be important as the games are coming fast, so it’s important to have a strong squad,” said the former Reading skipper.

Vancouver Whitecaps striker Darren Mattocks, who has gone two goals from as many games, said he is never satisfied and thought he should have got more goals, especially in Friday night’s win.

“I think I could have got a few more goals in this game, but I don’t think two goals in two games is a bad start. But I must give credit to my teammates today as they have been supplying me.

“I think the team tonight (Friday) came together and showed what it’s capable of doing, though I think we can go two or three levels up… this victory feels good, but we still have two more games we need to win,” he said.

Harbour View defender, Kemar Lawrence, who was also on the scoresheet for his second goal for his country, is on cloud nine.

“It felt great to get my team the first goal, and that kind of gave the team a push and we just told ourselves from there that we were going to keep pushing and not ease up the pressure.

“We moved the ball around a lot better as the guys got more comfortable on the pitch playing on it a second day as it is a bit heavy. Still, we got a lot of scoring opportunities, but it’s unfortunate that we didn’t finish all of them, but I am really pleased with my performance and that of the team,” said the left-back.

Captain Rodolph Austin had promised the nation that the team would return on Friday night and deliver a more appetising performance following the unfavourable result with Martinique. And he stood happy that the promise was kept.

“We had a meeting the other day and we talked about things we needed to do today (Friday) and that the first game was not good enough, and you can see that we did better this time… I think the team did very well,” said Austin.

Coming back from injury, the former Portmore United star underlined an improvement in his own personal game compared to what he gave in the tournament’s opening fixture.

“I think my performance tonight was better than that of the first game… I haven’t played for about a month as I was out injured and only played the last 30 minutes of the last game for my club, so I am coming back from injury and still need fitness,” Austin ended.

— Sean Williams