Haiti hold Jamaica in NY Digicel Cup

BROOKLYN, New York (CMC):

Alfred Robinson struck late as Haiti shocked powerhouses Jamaica with a 2-2 draw in the eighth round of the New York Digicel Caribbean Cup at the Jefferson High School stadium here.

Heavily tipped to win, the Jamaicans took a 2-1 lead early in the second half and seemed headed for a comfortable win before Robinson scored seven minutes from time to pull off the shock result.

The defending champions scored in the 35th minute to take a 1-0 lead, but James Martino levelled the scores four minutes later.

Daniel Shaw put Jamaica back in front in the 55th minute, a goal which seemed likely to take the US Reggae Boyz to full points.

But Robinson converted his chance in the 83rd minute for Haiti to leave the Jamaicans crestfallen.

"Haiti threw away a lot of goals," Cup president Fred Ballantyne told CMC Sport. "They really had the edge over Jamaica. That was a nice game."

The draw, however, left Jamaica in full control the East Zone, with 10 points from four matches and three wins.

They are four points ahead of nearest rivals St Lucia who have six points from three matches, with Haiti in third place on five points from three matches.

In the other matches in Sunday's triple-header, Trinidad and Tobago crushed Antigua and Barbuda 3-0, and St Kitts and Nevis beat Barbados 1-0.