Reggae Boyz head coach Steve McClaren said he was not surprised that they were held to a 1-1 draw by St Vincent and the Grenadine in their CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifier despite dominating the game.

It took a last-minute penalty by Leon Bailey in the 90+8 minute to rescue a draw for Jamaica after host St Vincent stunned the more fancied Reggae Boyz with a 65th-minute goal by Oalex Anderson.

“I think we, we dominated the game. I think we had 75 per cent possession. I think we created 15 opportunities, six on target. The goalkeeper played well and I don’t know how we didn’t score,” said McClaren at the post-match press briefly in Arnos Vale.

He continued: “We know that Saint Vincent, they work hard, they’re organized. I said that before to everybody, players, don’t be surprised. I don’t think we were surprised”.

“I said there’s no easy game in the Caribbean and this was not an easy game and I think the players know that,” McClaren pointed out.

Both teams will return to Kingston for the decisive second leg which will be at Sabina Park this Tuesday (March 25) with the winner on aggregate advancing to the next round.

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Jamaica had welcomed back the core of their squad including the overseas-based players and with a world ranking of 62 compared to 173 of St Vincent, the Reggae Boyz were rightly expected to win.

But despite dominating and missing a couple of efforts and brilliant goalkeeping from Lemus Christopher, the home team took the lead when Anderson latched onto a ball in the middle of the Jamaican half and outran defender Richard King before slotting home past goalkeeper Andre Blake.

With more chances going astray, Jamaica got a lifetime when substitute Warner Brown was hacked down in the box and Bailey calmly stepped up a convert the penalty with basically the last kick of the match.

“We started well. But they improved on transition, What pleased me was we kept going. We talked about the subs making a difference, the finishes coming on and they certainly did that,” said McClaren.