TORONTO, Canada — It was clear that Jamaica’s interim h ead coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore was not happy with many things that transpired in Saturday night’s friendly international loss to Canada inside the BMO Field here.

But he was not left totally heartbroken as he found some measure of comfort in the performance of a few newcomers to the squad in the match that Canada won 2-0.

Their goals — gifted to them through horrible errors by the Jamaicans — were scored by Anthony Jackson-Hamel in the 16th minute and Jonathan Osorio in minute 30.

The victory gave the Canadians the revenge they sought after the Boyz had defeated them 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold in Glendale, Arizona, in July.

It is the general consensus among fellow players, coaching staff, and those who watched from the stands that the Reggae Boyz only truly showed up for the party when Boys’ Town forward Jamiel Hardware and midfielders Devon Williams of Louisville FC and Vishinul Harris of Arnett Gardens were introduced.

Before them, Reno 1868’s Dane Kelly was impressive as a strike option for the Jamaicans.

“I think in the first half we were very poor, very disorganised and weren’t compact. but I think when they went into the changing room they came back out with a much more improved performance,” said Whitmore.

“We could blame all kinds of things for the overall performance, but I don’t want to get into that; but I was very pleased with the second half,” he added.

Whitmore, a former Jamaica midfield mastermind, shared with the Jamaica Observer that his defensive unit looked out of character, a far cry from the formidable backline that helped steer the Boyz to the final of the Gold Cup.

“For the past games we were compact and tight and were very hard to break down in defence, but we didn’t see that in this game… we didn’t see the transition the way we played the ball out of defence into midfield. we were a bit too slow, a bit too risky at times, and that contributed to the goals,” noted Whitmore.

But in all of that darkness, a beam of light shone through.

“I must say that I was very impressed with Kelly and Hardware when he came in, so for me those were the positive signs,” said Jamaica’s two-goal hero at the France 1998 World Cup.

Whitmore admitted that while a strong delivery would have sufficed, a win over vengeance-seeking Canada would have added a sweet, extra layer of topping.

“It is always good when we can come out of a game with a victory, but when you look at the game last night (Saturday), Canada really only had two shots at our goal and scored, compared to us.

“If we were at 100 per cent it could have been a far different game in terms of performance and result,” he added.

Whitmore’s future with the senior team will be contingent on the outcome of the election for the post of president of the governing Jamaica Football Federation to be held Saturday, September 16.

As such, the coach could not say what is next on the horizon for the Boyz.

“That is a difficult question to answer at this point in time… right now everything is left up to the federation,” he said.

Former KSAFA boss Ambassador Stewart Stephenson and Clarendon FA president Michael Ricketts are in the running to complete the two years left on the mandate of late president, Captain Horace Burrell.

— Sean Williams