Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

THE THIRD and final day of the Jamaica Digicel Kick Start Clinic saw a well-contested game as the Jamaica Under-20 team defeated the winning team from the Digicel text competition, the Seba United Under-20s, 1-0 at the Barbican field yesterday.

After two days of intense training with Digicel Clinics' head coach, John Barnes, the national team was given the chance to display its strength and ability on the field.

With no goals scored in the first half, the second stanza saw an exciting 45 minutes with the national team making numerous attempts to score.

The Seba team also came to the fore but, despite showing strong attacking skill, displayed poor finishing as it set up seemingly perfect shots but was not able to follow through.

Terrace McIntyre gave Seba a glimpse of the lead when he trapped the ball on his thigh, controlled it and fired into the net.

offside

Unfortunately, the goal was determined to be offside.

Barnes watched intently from the sidelines as Shavor Brown scored the national team's lone goal in the 67th minute.

Ramone Palmer, Jamaica College's midfielder, took control of the ball in the 25-yard area and delivered a perfect square to Mikhail Weatherly to the left of the goal post.

Weatherly shot the ball into the six-yard box, from where Brown scored.

Wayne Brackett, coach of Seba's U-20 team, indicated that he was proud of his side's performance.

"The team did very well and dominated play mostly in the second half. It is unfortunate that the goal we scored was questionable, but we competed well," Brackett said.

Barnes indicated that with the right attitude and discipline many of the participants in the clinic would become successful footballers.

"The footballers displayed a willingness to try under difficult circumstances. The attitude of the boys was sensational," Barnes said.

He urged the players to continue working hard and to exercise patience.

"Within another year, more opportunities will present themselves and scouting agents will be impressed with what they will find," he said.