Jamaica didn't play their best and it didn't matter in their opening match of the Gold Cup's Group B. Aside from being without Omar Cummings and Tyrone Marshall, the Reggae Boyz were sloppy, but Grenada still didn't stand a chance. Two goals in the first half were followed up by two in the second half and by the time the final whistle blew at the mostly empty Home Depot Center, the Reggae Boyz had themselves a mighty fine looking 4-0 scoreline.
There was never a time that Jamaica weren't the far superior team and that included the early going. It took until the 21st minute for that to pay off though. A short corner have Rodolph Austin plenty of space to play a cross in and it found Luton Shelton's toe. It wasn't the mightiest of touches, but Shelton got enough on the ball to flip it over the goalkeeper and in for the opening goal.
Just before halftime, Jamaica added to their lead. Dane Richards was played in on the right and nobody was catching up with the speedy winger. He flew down the field before finding an unmarked Ryan Johnson in front of the net. Richards delivered, Johnson tapped it in and the Reggae Boyz were up 2-0.
The Reggae Boyz continued to push in the second half, but goals weren't coming. That is until the 79th minute when Demar Phillips cleverly touched the ball past a defender to put himself in on goal. He finished without a problem and Jamaica were ahead 3-0.
The match highlight came just five minutes later on a beautiful goal by Omar Daley. A ball into substitute Jevaugh Watson was waist high and tough to control. Instead of trying to do so, Watson just backheeled the ball on the first touch to an onrushing Daley, who struck the ball with his first touch. The strike was a bullet right to the upper corner and not only did Jamaica have themselves a 4-0 win, they had a great goal for the highlight reel as well.
Jamaica now sits on three points in Group B, while Grenada have none. Jamaica will play their second match of the competition on Friday night in Miami against Guatemala, while Grenada will play Honduras.