INSPIRED BY late second-half substitutes Dane Richards and Demar Phillips, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz shook off some nervous moments to reward a small crowd of about 4,000 with two goals in the last quarter-hour to net a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Barbados in their Group A Digicel Caribbean Championship Finals match at the National Stadium last night.

The win, the Boyz's first in a competitive fixture with new head coach John Barnes, lifted Jamaica to three points and joint leadership of the zone with Grenada, who registered the same margin of victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the earlier game.

Richards opened the gate for Jamaica's opening goal against a sturdy Barbadian defence, with a neat chip over the backline that gave Rodolph Austin an easy opportunity that he steered one-time past Barbados goalie Alvin Rouse to tie the scores at the 76th minute.

Six minutes later, a clumsy piece of defending by stout-hearted defender Bryan Neblett, who handled the ball, led to a penalty.

Building on the momentum, Luton Shelton fired the penalty kick straight down the middle of the goal to give Jamaica their winning goal in the 81st minute.

Free header

Barbados scored their goal right on the stroke of half-time when a corner kick swerved in low from the left and was met near the centre of the goal at six yards by Riviere Williams and he buried the free header into the net.

In the second half, Jamaica took greater control but still had difficulty utilising their team game to break down Barbados until the pace and skill of Richards and Phillips at wide right and left midfield were introduced for Sean Fraser and Rafe Wolfe.

Richards, in particular, was virtually uncontainable and was successful at dribbling inside the penalty box from right on a number of occasions to supply crosses before goal.

Barbados wilted under the pressure as Jamaica were winning many corners, putting in many squares and forcing a number of hasty clearances before Barbados' goal.

The eastern Caribbean team finally broke when Richards produced a nice piece of innovation by lifting the ball over a wall of defenders before him to set up the opening goal and set the tone for victory.

Jamaica next play Grenada tomorrow at Jarrett Park, Montego Bay, at 7 p.m.

- Audley Boyd