THEODORE WHITMORE'S Jamaica were on fire to sweep aside Grenada 5-1 at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium on Friday (Aug 17).
Debutant Daniel Green opened the scoring, followed by a brace from Peter-Lee Vassell with Leon St. John's own goal and Chevone Marsh adding to the Reggae Boyz tally.
It was always perceived to be a routine friendly win for the Boyz, reduced to a 18-player squad when Javain Brown and four Portmore United players withdrew at the last minute.
Whitmore tried in vain to fill the vacant right-back position by calling in Maliek Howell, the ex-Manning Cup-winning Jamaica College captain, only to discover that that the youngster had left for the United States on a scholarship.
But Whitmore need not have worried as the Boyz burst into life from the first whistle and were determined to continue their exemplary record against the hosts.
Having last lost to Grenada 10 years ago but having thrashed them 4-0 at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup in their previous encounter encounter, the Boyz showed no fear and were rewarded by Green's opener on 12 minutes.
Midfielder Vassell doubled their lead on 20 minutes and netted three minutes into a lively second-half.
But the Boyz were pegged by Rickel Charles' 56th-minute strike, although the pressure was lifted 170 seconds later when St. John was unfortunate to beat his own keeper.
And Marsh rounded off a dominant display from the Boyz with 20 minutes remaining to keep Whitmore smiling from the dug-out.
Whitmore said: “We have a young set of players with a couple of them playing at this level for the first time and I don't want it to appear as if we are not serious."
The Boyz tackle Barbados in Monday's friendly international and are expected to grab another confidence boosting success before they face a stiff test against Ecuador in New Jersey, USA, on 7 September.
Barbados were dismissed 2-0 the last time these sides met four years ago and have a poor record of just two wins from 13 matches against Jamaica.
Overseas players are currently being sourced to add to the Boyz squad when their CONCACAF Nations League campaign kicks off in Kingston's National Stadium against the Cayman Islands on 9 September, but on the showing of how Jamaica compete as a unit it will be a tough ask for any player with tenuous links to be selected for the Boyz.
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