A double strike from Arnett Gardens forward Warner Brown gave Jamaica a comfortable 3-0 win over visitors Guatemala, in their second round Concacaf World Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Reggae Boyz took the lead after 26 minutes when Jon Russell rose and latched on to a Leon Bailey cross inside the box, and headed into the Guatemala goal past custodian Nicholas Hagen.
Brown, the only local based player name to the starting line up, the put his name on the score-sheet in minute 37, when he fired home the rebound after goal keeper Hagen had stopped an initial penalty kick by winger Bailey. Costa Rican referee David Gomez had awarded the decision after Guatemalan defender Erick Lemus brought down Demarai Gray just inside the 18-yard box.
In the second half, Brown completed his double when he met the ball at the left post from Grey’s corner and squeezed it past the goal keeper and two defenders to finish off the Central Americans.
It was Brown’s third goal in 72 hours and his fourth overall in the Reggae Boyz outfit after he had scored the winner against the British Virgin Islands last Saturday.
Jamaica ends the Group E standings as winners on maximum 12 points with Guatemala slipping to second on 9, while the Dominican Republic finished third and failed to advance despite a 5-0 hammering of Dominica.
Caribbean neighbors Trinidad and Tobago also advanced to the next round despite losing 2-1 to Group B rivals Costa Rica.
The teams who have booked their ticket to the third round of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers includes: Jamaica, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Nicaragua, Suriname and Bermuda.
The draw for the third round takes place on Thursday.