Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz battled to a scrappy 0-0 draw with rivals Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) in an international friendly at the National Stadium in Kingston on Tuesday night.

Jamaica, looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to T&T in Montego Bay on Saturday, appeared lively throughout the game but seemed to still be trying to find fluency in communication among teammates.

Although T&T were forced to contain more than they would have wanted, they did have their moments and looked dangerous coming forward.

Dujuan “Whisper” Richards, getting his first international start in this game, came the closest to getting a breakthrough in the first half. The better of his two significant efforts, and perhaps Jamaica’s best effort of the game, came in the 43rd minute when he forced T&T goalkeeper Marvin Phillip into a save at his near post. The other effort came from deep in the T&T half but although powerful, it was pulled wide.

Jamaica did well enough with long passes into the area, mostly by centre-back Jamoi Topey but poor first touches by Collin Anderson and Demario Phillips saw the play break down without a shot.

Phillips wasted an opportunity in minute 35 after a long ball by Topey found him open and unmarked on the edge of the area. His cutback after a neat first touch gave away the ball.

Two minutes later, Lamar Walker played through Collin Anderson, who latched on to the ball but his effort on goal only resulted in him clattering into T&T goalkeeper Marvin Phillip.

T&T had their efforts as well, especially through Reon Moore, who looked dangerous every time he received the ball down their left side. However, two of their three significant efforts were fired wide, while another forced a crucial block by Phillips.

It was more of the same in the second half, with Jamaica dominating possession but passes going astray and miscontrolled meant they remained frustrated as they tried to break the deadlock.

Anderson had other wasted opportunities in minutes 45 and 48, again because of a poor first touch after receiving ball over the top.

T&T also had a good opportunity in minute 76, but substitute Joevin Jones’ free kick only ended up on the top of the net.

This is the 62nd meeting between the sides, with Trinidad winning 26 in total, to Jamaica’s 25, with 11 other games ending in a draw.

Jamaica Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson has been experimenting with a number of young local and England-based players in this squad, as he builds a long-term plan for qualification to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.