André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter`

Gibson Relays' meet director, Ray Harvey, was left to explain some of the issues affecting the organisers of the much-respected track meet after a dysfunctional clock and unusual delays left spectators less than pleased inside the National Stadium yesterday.

Technicians spent virtually the entire meet trying to get the electronic clock which allows spectators to see the final results and times of athletes to work, but a disappointed Harvey assured that everything was done to ease the inconvenience, explaining that the problem was only discovered on the day of the meet.

"The situation with the clock is indeed a disappointment, but the cable that runs from the field up to the photo timing system had been dismantled and we found that out about an hour and a half before the start of the meet," Harvey told The Sunday Gleaner.

"We have been working assiduously to get it working, but we eventually had to start manually," Harvey said.

Not a crisis

"I don't necessarily think that these issues will affect the image of the meet; we have been able to keep the meet going," Harvey added. "We are working our tails off to get everything up and running before the end of the meet, but we will see."

The clock was still down up to 5:30 p.m.

The Gibson Relays, known for its professional execution and particularly its punctuality, saw delays of up to one hour at certain points throughout the day, but as Harvey explained, that too was due to events largely outside of the organisers' control.

"We started on time, but we lost some time mainly because we have several starters who are doing a refresher course, and changing around the starters crews and so forth takes some additional time," said Harvey.

• U-20 Boyz whipped 4-0

Jamaica were whipped 4-0 by Panama in Group C of the 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in Puebla, Mexico, yesterday.

Amet Ramirez scored two goals for the second straight game as Panama topped the group with six points.

Jamaica finished the group stage with one win and one loss (three points) and will play either Mexico or El Salvador in a quarter-final meeting on Wednesday.