SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Jamaica dropped two crucial points after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cuba in their Group A encounter at the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship.

Jamaica missed a third minute penalty courtesy of a poor Alex Marshall effort and were made to pay the price despite appearing far superior to the Cubans.

Eduard Puga sneaked in at the near post and slotted home in the 47th minute, giving Cuba the lead totally against the run of play. But Nathaniel Adamolekun equalised for Jamaica in the 53rd minute, firing home from a neat build-up for his second goal of the tournament.

Jamaica ended with 10 men after substitute Demar James, who came on in the 81st minute for the outstanding Peter Lee Vassell, picked up a yellow card in the 84th minute for a cynical foul just outside the box.

Then referee Kimbell Ward of St Kitts gave him a straight red in the 90th minute when he used his hand to hit the ball into the goal.

The result was a minor setback for the Jamaicans as head coach made four changes to his starting eleven from the Guatemala game. He switched goalkeepers and gave the nod to Akeem Chambers, while US-based Zaire Bartley of New York Red Bulls, Hakin Williams and Donovan Dawkins all started for the first time.

But it will be a result the Jamaicans will regret as they were clearly a better team, but yet still they almost lost the game had it not been for a last-minute block by a defender.

Head coach Andrew Edwards could not hide his frustration, having dropped two crucial points in their push for World Cup qualification.

“(It is) certainly a setback. Certainly we are very disappointed. When the fixture came out this is one of the games we targeted for three points and we believed we should have got three points here today. So, we are very disappointed that we had to settle for a draw,” said Edwards.

The Young Reggae Boyz moved to four points following their 0-2 defeat to Honduras and 2-1 victory over Guatemala, while Cuba are on two points from three games, having also drawn 1-1 with Honduras.

Teams:

Jamaica — Akeem Chambers, Jahwani Hinds, Ajeanie Talbott, Fabian Grant, Hakim Williams, Shandel Senior, Peter Vassell (Demar James 81st), Alex Marshall, Zaire Barthley (Tajea Brown 61st), Nathaniel Adamolekun, Donovan Dawkins (Nicholas Nelson 67th).

Subs not used: Jahmali White, Atoniel Mullings, Jahlanie Hammond, Deshane Beckford, ChrisöAndrew Dixon.

Booked: Marshall 40th, Barthley 54th, James 84th, 90+2 (red)

Coach: Andrew Edwards

Cuba — Lazaro Garcia, Dariel Morejon, Carlos Borromeo, Jansiel Blanco (Yon Hernandez 16th), Jonathan Ramirez (Yordon Alonso 59th), Raycharles Herrera, Yosniel Gonzalez, Eduard Puga, Serguey Campillo, Jeffrey Delgado, Neisser Sando.

Subs not used: Jesus Hernandez, Felipe Hurtado, Carlos Sebrango, Nelson Betancourt, Brian Savigne, Omar Romero, Yordanis Barreto.

Booked: Puga (76th)

Coach: Fidel Salazar

Referee: Kimbell Ward (St Kitts)

Assistants: Ricardo Ake (Belize), Gabriel Victoria (Panama)

Fourth Official: Adrian Skeete (Barbados)

Match Commissary: Egbert Lacle (Aruba)