Jamaica's young Reggae Boyz fell agonisingly short of a spot in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup when they were beaten 4-0 by Honduras at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago yesterday.

"The fact of the matter is that when you are at this level you cannot afford to make any silly mistakes and you have to put away all your chances. We had issues with both and we paid the price," team manager Roy Simpson told The Gleaner.

"Any loss like this, of course, leaves the players dejected. We are all quite disappointed, but we just did not get it done today," he added.

Heading into the CONCACAF Finals encounter needing only a draw to boost their chances of securing a spot, the team seemed well on their way to doing so, until Johnny Leverón put the Hondurans in front in first half stoppage time.

Things fall apart

Things began to crumble rapidly for the Jamaica national team when they again conceded early in the second half, courtesy of a Mario Martinez goal just two minutes after the restart.

Roger Rojas put the game beyond issue when he netted in the 63rd minute, before Christian Altamirano added insult to injury, when he widened the margin of defeat with a goal in the 75th minute.

Summing up a frustrating evening for the Jamaicans, central defender Keithy Simpson was ejected from the match, when he received a red card in the 90th minute.

The Jamaicans got off to a rocky start to the tournament when they went down 3-0 to the United States in their opening game.

The young Boyz, however, put themselves right back into contention, following a hard-fought 2-1 win over El Salvador, but in the process, lost Captain Andre Darby and experienced striker Dever Orgill, to red cards.

"Yes they are quality players, but in my opinion their absence wasn't the cause of our losing, we just never walked the walk today," noted Simpson.

The team had hoped to be the first youth team since a Jackie Walters-coached Under-20 squad in 2001, a Dr Dean Weatherley Under-17 squad in 1991 and the fabled national senior team of 1998, to showcase their talent on the world stage.