Defending champions Jamaica advanced to Friday’s semi-finals of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys Tier 1 Challenge Series in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, after beating Curaçao 2-0 on Wednesday to complete a clean sweep of their Group C games.

Two well-taken goals, one in either half from Jaheem Brown and Tai-Sean Headley, were enough to see the young Reggae Boyz past Curaçao after beating St Kitts/Nevis 4-0 on Monday and Aruba 1-0 on Tuesday.

Jamaica topped the group with a maximum nine points and will face Bermuda in one semi-final, while Haiti and the Dominican Republic will meet in the other.

Jamaica’s Head Coach Vassell Reynolds was pleased with Wednesday’s performance.

“Clearly, we have made progress, I have seen where the young lads are improving individually and collectively and that’s pleasing to see,” he told the Jamaica Observer, adding that they were anticipating another tough game.

“Yes, we anticipated a tough challenge from Curacao, and I thought we were equal to the task,” Reynolds said. “Defensively, I thought we were good for the most part. One of our objectives coming was to make it difficult for teams to score on us, and so far, so good, albeit there is still room for improvement.”

After three days of football, Reynolds said the coaching staff were looking forward to the rest day and were pleased with what they had seen so far.

“Overall, we are pleased with the effort of the entire team so far, and we anticipate even more improvement going forward,” the head coach said. “We will now welcome the day’s rest and to continue our recovery work and to keep the boys focus mentally.”

After Tuesday’s physical challenge against Aruba, where several players were shown yellow cards, both teams created scoring chances on Wednesday.

Brown struck first in the 28th minute, giving Jamaica the lead with a well-taken goal from midway inside Curaçao’s 18-yard area. He fired a left-footed shot across the area and into the far corner, out of reach of goalkeeper Ayzic Marin Helena.

Basil Trail provided the assist from the left side after getting past two defenders.

Jamaica secured all three points in the 67th minute after a brilliant piece of individual skill from midfielder Makiri D’Aguilar. The substitute took a short corner on the left, dribbled past several defenders before finding fellow substitute Headley, who volleyed the ball into the goal from about six yards out.