North Village Rams 1

Jamaican Ambassadors 2

Jamaican Ambassadors got their three-match tour of the Island off to a winning start at BAA Field.

The visiting Reggea Boyz caught Rams short at the back twice in the second half and capitalised with some clinical finishing to overcome a spirited Village squad led by former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater.

After a scoreless first half Ambassadors took the lead for good when they caught Rams thin at the back on a quick break down the left side that culminated with a well -positioned Oliver Smith volleying past 'keeper Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock who had just replaced George Hayward between the uprights.

Twenty minutes later the visitors doubled their lead with Melville Brown burying a left-footed shot following another quick raid down Ram's vulnerable right side. But it wasn't a case of all one way traffic as Goater and assistant national cricket coach Herbie Bascome combined on numerous occassions to bend the Ambassadors' defence out of shape. Bascome, in particular, had ample chances to give Rams the ascendancy but scuffed each opportunity to get his team back into the match.

Rams' pressure finally told in the 85th minute when the opportunistic Ricky Hill was first to react to a defensive lapse to shave Ambassadors' lead in half. But it ultimately wasn't enough as the Jamaicans held firm to the final whistle to celebrate a hard-fought win.

"It was a good game played in a good spirited. Nobody got hurt and everybody enjoyed themselves, which was what we set out to accomplish," Ambassadors' president Leonard (Chicken) Mason said after Thursday night's encounter.

"We had a lot of chances in the second half with only the goalkeeper to beat but sqaundered them while Village also squandered a lot of chances. Village played with a brilliant spirit in the second half. They had good ball control and had us on the defensive for awhile."

The Ambassadors were scheduled to face off against a Cyril (Dago) Steede -led Over 40 Bermuda XI at the Den last night before closing out their brief tour today against Somerset Extros at Somerset Cricket Club (3 p.m.).

The following players have been chosen to represent Extros today: Wayne Butterfield, Gladstone Robinson, Brian Simons, Anthony Burchall, Greg (Ribs) Simons, Randy Simmons, Kevin Bailey, Kelly (Wizard) Simmons, Micheal Bremar, Micheal Corday, Anthony Bailey, Stevie Riley, Everette Wellman, Troy Berkeley, David (Berker) Burchall, Robert Goodchild, Duane (Box) Derosa, Coolridge (Bumla) Bell, Dennis (Rock) Brown and Josef Gooden.