VASSELL Reynolds, the Jamaica U-14 Reggae Boyz head coach, expressed disappointment after his team went down 0-4 to Haiti in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-14 Boys’ Tier 1 Challenge Series final in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on Sunday.

Jamaica, who were defending champions, went into the final with a perfect win record in four games and had not conceded a goal. However, they were outplayed by the Haitians in the 35-minute-per-half title match.

Wensley Dumorne scored twice in the second half to lead Haiti to their first title. Jodeley Delmas and Ronelson Pele Janvier were the other scorers.

Reynolds said that while he knew the quality that Haiti possessed, he had expected more from the young Reggae Boyz.

“To have lost by the margin we did was disappointing, especially with the kind of defensive record we went into the game with,” Reynolds told the Jamaica Observer. “We knew the technical competence and the speed of play that the Haitian team possessed and we just didn’t counter that well enough.”

Led by goalkeeper Knevoy Brown, who made some good saves, Jamaica held Haiti at bay for almost half-hour before conceding their first goal of the tournament.

“I thought we conceded at some critical stages of the game and they pushed us every time we got in the game,” the Jamaica coach explained.

Jamaica’s young Reggae Boyz warm up ahead of a match against Aruba during the Caribbean Football Union Under-14 Challenge Series in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on August 18, 2026. (Photo: CFU)

He added that the loss of midfielder and captain Mathieu Miller due to injury did not help their cause.

“We lost further control when we lost Mathieu, our midfielder, [who] was keeping things together for us. For the most part we tried to stick to a couple of things we practised and discussed, and that to me was very positive,” Reynolds noted.

There was a lot of confidence going into the final after the Jamaicans had won their previous four games by an 8-0 aggregate, including a 1-0 victory over Bermuda in the semi-final on Friday.

Haiti had sent a warning of their intentions with a 6-1 thrashing of hosts Dominican Republic in the other semi-final.

After dominating the Jamaicans from the start on Sunday, Haiti were rewarded when Delmas opened the scoring in the 28th minute, the first time Jamaica were conceding in over 300 minutes of football.

Dumorne doubled the lead in the 39th minute and then completed his brace in the 47th. Janvier added a fourth for the Haitians in the 59th minute.

— Paul A Reid