JAMAICA’S senior Reggae Boyz were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Suriname as they squandered what would have been a promising start to their Concacaf Nations League Group A campaign on Saturday.

Junior Flemmings fired the Boyz in front in the 39th minute to mark his 24th cap, but that was cancelled out by Roscello Vlijter (85th) who earned Suriname a share of the spoils on the artificial surface at the Dr Ir. Franklin Essed Stadium in Paramaribo.

With the result, both teams are joint top of the three-team standing on a point and will again square off at the National Stadium on Tuesday. Mexico completes this League A group from which the top two teams will qualify directly to the Concacaf Gold Cup.

The Jamaica Observer understands that interim Head Coach Paul Hall may not be on the sidelines for the return-leg encounter as it is understood that the England-based tactician has already tendered his resignation to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

It was a lively start to what was always expected to be a keenly contested encounter between the 64th-ranked Jamaicans and their Dutch-speaking counterparts ranked at 141.

Though the Jamaicans controlled possession in the early exchanges it was Suriname that looked more dangerous in the attacking third, as it took a decent save from Amal Knight, diving full stretch to his left, to deny Diego Biseswar in the sixth minute.

A few minutes later,Jamaica’s high defensive line was caught out, allowing Yanic Wildschut to break, but his progress was thwarted by Knight who left his line well.

The Jamaicans again got caught out in the 23rd minute and Suriname had another opportunity to grab the lead through Roscello Vlijter, who had time and space at the top of the 18-yard box but hit his effort high and wide.

Having heeded the warnings the Boyz, led by Flemmings, started to show more life in their attacking thrust and, after knocking at the door, eventually got the breakthrough six minutes from the break.

Javain Brown fought hard to dispossess a defender and play a pass in to Flemmings who did well to turn and fire a left-footer past Warner Hahn in goal, for Suriname to put the Boyz 1-0 up at the break.

The Jamaicans maintained the momentum on the resumption as they continued to boss possession and apply consistent pressure.

However, their hunt to add to their tally proved futile as a lapse in concentration allowed Suriname to take charge in the latter stages of the contest.

It was during that sustained spell of play that the hosts found the equaliser as the Jamaicans struggled to clear their lines and inevitably crumbled under pressure.

First, Kenroy Campbell’s attempted clearance spliced off his left boot, leaving Knight flat-footed, but the ball somehow came back off the left upright.

Knight, in an attempt to punch clear the resulting corner taken by the left-footed Vlijter, but failed miserably as the ball glanced his glove and fell into the vacant net.

But the custodian, who was a last-minute replacement for Andre Blake, redeemed himself as he got across well to his left to parry Vlijter’s well-taken free kick from just over 20 yards out.

Still, the Jamaicans fought on and should have won the game in time added when Flemmings orchestrated two tidy counter-attacking plays. But, substitue Daniel Green hit his tame effort straight at Hahn on the first while a mix-up between Green and another substitute, Kaheem Parris, allowed defenders to recover on the second which came just before the whistle.

— Sherdon Cowan