Jamaica Under-17 coach Andrew Edwards is largely satisfied with his team’s effort in their 1-1 draw with Cuba in Sunday’s friendly international at St George’s College in Kingston.

The Young Boyz had to chisel their way back in the sprightly contest after going behind in the 54th minute to a Ribaldo Roldon penalty.

Substitute Ricardo McIntosh pulled the hosts level in the 70th minute.

Though they did not overpower the Cubans in the strictest sense, Jamaica had ample opportunities to win the match, but those gifted the chances were lacking the clinical end product.

Having been stung by Cuba’s Brian Savigne’s 34th-minute goal in their Caribbean Football Union semi-final match in Trinidad and Tobaglo last September, it would be expected that the Young Boyz would be hungry for revenge. Perhaps they were, but the killer instinct was missing from the battlefield.

That aside, Jamaica coach Edwards was pleased with what he deemed obvious signs of “growth and progress” in the team’s organisation and tactical delivery.

Jamaica will have their chance to get it all right in the second game of the two-match series today at the JFF Technical Centre in Mona. Kick-off is 3:00 pm.

“I am quite satisfied with a number of things. Defensively, I thought we looked better and you saw that we maintained a good tempo for the 90 minutes, and that was one of the developmental targets that we needed to meet.

“We also created a lot of chances and we are very happy with that. We now just need to work on our decision making and composure and the choice of finish that we use.

“On the flip side of that same coin, we have to say you expect international players to do much better (in front of goal), but overall we showed some good signs in growth and progress and this should give us a lot of confidence going forward,” said Edwards.

The coach, in the same breath, expressed anxiety with other crucial areas of the tactical output, hoping to fix them for today’s game.

“We do have some concerns as, at the front of the team, we are not recovering the ball often enough and we were not channelling the ball into the areas we want to play so we can be more aggressive in our defensive action.

“We are also allowing our opponents to play in too many areas of the field as we want to contain them in certain areas. In the first period, our midfield was too spread when we were defending, but we fixed that at half-time and that forced Cuba back, and they had to start playing long and over the top,” Edwards told the Jamaica Observer.

The Jamaican tactician was also unhappy with how Jamaica conceded the penalty that gave the Cubans their lead.

“We conceded a goal from a penalty which came from our carelessness and mistake at the back, and I am sure the players will learn from it, and I am sure they will be beating up themselves, especially the goalkeeper,” Edwards said.

In the match, some of the most senior Jamaican players and those thought to possess the individual ability to make a difference gave their coach little to smile about.

“We have some players we are disappointed with like Kaheem Parris and Raewin Senior, as they are two of our more talented players and I don’t think they are carrying themselves in a way that can take the team forward.

“Also, Renato Campbell, though to a lesser extent, as he and the others are players with talent and they are pulling themselves in a manner which suggests they don’t want to be playing in the World Cup in September,” Edwards noted.

But Edwards was delighted with the commitment and purpose coming from the bench.

“On the flip side of that, we saw young Ricardo McIntosh coming in and scoring the goal for us and having three or four other good shots, including a bicyle; his run between the lines and behind defenders were extremely good as well.

“Marlando Maxwell, as well, came into midfield and had a good impact on the game, being involved in both sides of the ball in defence and attack and he, too, had a couple of shots,” Edwards ended.

Both nations are using these games as preparation for the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship in Panama April 21- May 7.

Jamaica, who are drawn in Group C, will open against the USA on April 23, then take on El Salvador on April 26. They will then close out the preliminaries with a game against Mexico three days later.

Group A will be contested by Panama, Haiti, Honduras and Curacao, while Group B is made up of Costa Rica, Cuba, Suriname and Canada.

The top-four finishers of the confederation tournament will advance to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India.