By AINSLEY WALTERS, Staff ReporterHARBOUR VIEW coach Donovan 'DV' Hayles believes the Reggae Boyz were let down by a poor defensive combination Wednesday night when they allowed Honduras to rally from two goals down in a 2-2 friendly draw at the National Stadium.
Hayles, whose Harbour View are vying for a spot in the Premier League semi-finals after being bumped out of the Federation Cup by Waterhouse, said the second-half combination of central defenders Damion Stewart and Ian 'Pepe' Goodison lacked cohesion.
The former Harbour View goalkeeper also said defensive midfielder Tyrone Marshall had a poor game and stopped just short of saying World Cup 98 veteran Goodison lacked the physical condition and speed required to play the 4-4-2 formation.
"Based on what I saw, the combination of stoppers, 'Pepe' and Claude do not operate well together as opposed to Damion (Stewart) and Claude," he pointed out. Damion and Claude complement each other."
Jamaica started the international friendly with Goodison and Davis in central defence, switching from the Stewart-Davis combination, which served them well in a 2-0 win against Uruguay in February.
Injury replacement
At half-time, Stewart, a key defender at Harbour View, replaced an injured Davis with the Boyz leading 1-0 off Onandi Lowe's eighth minute goal.
Shortly after the break, Fabian Davis made it 2-0 in the 53rd. Coach Bora Milutinovic afterwards summoned substitutes Emil Martinez and the wily Milton Nunez. Minutes after taking the field, the pair ripped Jamaica's defence to shreds with goals in the 67th and 78th respectively.
"Nunez, as a speed player, showed up Pepe's slowness and the combination with him and Damion wasn't working," Hayles pointed out. "The decision whether to cover space or man wasn't there. What the Hondurans did excellently, they didn't play the ball to their forwards' feet, they played it into space behind the defenders from a distance.
"That's what happens when you a play a flat four, you have to make that decision whether to cover man or space, worse if the third midfielder, Marshall in this case, is not covering the stoppers. He exposed the two flat players too much as opposed to the Uruguay game when he came back, allowing one to play almost as a sweeper when needed."
Hayles said Goodison's fitness was suspect and he'll have to be much sharper.
"'Pepe' needs to work more to get back into the team," he pointed out. "I'm not debating whether he's a better player than Damion or not. However, in terms of him having an understanding with Claude, I didn't see it. Pepe's speed will have to improve. He reads the game well when marking the man but when playing the space, his reaction rate will have to improve."
Without quite saying so, Hayles hinted coach Carl Brown might have been outfoxed by the veteran Bora.
"Nunez is a fast and fresh player," he pointed out. "Bora did well by keeping back his best and quickest forward, sacrificing the first half with a second-rate player before bringing him on with an attacking midfielder."
