THOUGH frustrated after the 0-4 thumping at the hands of Canada in Sunday’s Concacaf World Cup qualifier at BMO Field in Toronto, Jamaica’s interim Head Coach Paul Hall said it was not all doom and gloom.

The Reggae Boyz, who had to endure cold temperatures which hovered between –4° and –5° Celsius, were never in the running after conceding first-half goals to Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan.

Junior Hoilett scored a late third for the World Cup-bound Canadians before Jamaican defender Adrian Mariappa’s own goal worsened the scoreline just shy of full time.

“I don’t think we were a true reflection of who we could have been. I remember seeing some good patterns of play, which is what we need to be. We need to be identifiable by how we play, but we were consistent,” Hall told the Jamaica Observer in a post-match interview on Sunday.

For varying reasons, Jamaica’s coaching staff was forced into three changes to the already depleted team that started in the 1-1 result against visitors El Salvador last Thursday.

Forward Andre Gray, who scored Jamaica’s goal against the Central Americans in Kingston, winger Leon Bailey, and central defender Damion Lowe — all seasoned professionals — were out. In came the inexperienced trio of Ricardo Thomas, Atapharoy Bygrave and Nicholas Nelson.

Additionally, teenager Tarick Ximines was introduced at the start of the second half for his senior team debut.

Hall conceded that at times the team’s inexperience and lack of chemistry were exposed against Canada.

“A lot of Canada’s chances came from us giving them the ball. I don’t think it came from them inventing something, it came from our sloppiness so I think we’ve got things to coach, things to work on, things to improve. They’re a young team — a couple of debuts — and we’ve just got to continue to work with them,” the former Reggae Boyz attacker said.

“There was bravery at times on the ball, I do respect that but, like I said, we’ve had a couple of training sessions to get things right. The other day [versus El Salvador] we were superb, but when you’re trying to play a certain way, especially against a team that’s topping the division, you can get some inconsistencies.

“There were moments in the second half when we kept the ball really well but we didn’t really look like we were going to get in behind and threaten their goal,” Hall said.

The win secured Canada’s spot at the Qatar 2022 global showpiece as they climb to 28 points, with each team having only a game left. Jamaica, who have no chance of reaching the World Cup, are second to last in the eight-team table with eight points. The Reggae Boyz’ final match of the campaign is against visiting team Honduras at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

United States and Mexico, both on 25 points but separated by goal difference, are placed second and third, respectively. Costa Rica are fourth with 22 points and cannot be caught by out-of-contention Panama (18). Also without a chance of advancing are sixth-place El Salvador (10 points) and cellar team Honduras (four points).

Only the top three countries from the region are assured a place to the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The fourth-place team will have the chance to compete for another spot via an intercontinental play-off.