diff --git a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/pom.xml b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/pom.xml
index 06eea6e854f..43e611f5aef 100644
--- a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/pom.xml
+++ b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/pom.xml
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@
       </exclusions>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.drools</groupId>
-      <artifactId>drools-compiler</artifactId>
+        <groupId>org.drools</groupId>
+        <artifactId>drools-compiler</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
@@ -92,11 +92,10 @@
       <artifactId>javaparser-core</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
-
     <!-- BigMath dependency to obtain BigDecimal advanced math -->
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>ch.obermuhlner</groupId>
-      <artifactId>big-math</artifactId>
+        <groupId>ch.obermuhlner</groupId>
+        <artifactId>big-math</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
     <!-- Logging -->
@@ -150,16 +149,20 @@
       <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
       <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.apache.poi</groupId>
+      <artifactId>poi</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
 
   </dependencies>
 
   <build>
     <testResources>
       <testResource> <!-- as I will be including additional testResource directory, I need to re-explicit the default to Maven (standard Maven behaviour) -->
-        <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
+          <directory>${project.basedir}/src/test/resources</directory>
       </testResource>
       <testResource>
-        <directory>${project.basedir}/</directory>
+        <directory>${project.basedir}/../</directory>
         <includes>
           <include>ref-dmn-feel-builtin-functions.adoc</include>
         </includes>
@@ -186,4 +189,5 @@
 
     </plugins>
   </build>
+
 </project>
diff --git a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/MatchesFunction.java b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/MatchesFunction.java
index d439229218d..9ea8d5b661c 100644
--- a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/MatchesFunction.java
+++ b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/MatchesFunction.java
@@ -36,23 +36,28 @@ private MatchesFunction() {
         super( "matches" );
     }
 
-    public FEELFnResult<Object> FEELFnResult(@ParameterName("input") String input, @ParameterName("pattern") String pattern) {
+    public FEELFnResult<Boolean> FEELFnResult(@ParameterName("input") String input, @ParameterName("pattern") String pattern) {
         return invoke( input, pattern, null );
     }
 
-    public FEELFnResult<Object> invoke(@ParameterName("input") String input, @ParameterName("pattern") String pattern, @ParameterName("flags") String flags) {
+    public FEELFnResult<Boolean> invoke(@ParameterName("input") String input, @ParameterName("pattern") String pattern, @ParameterName("flags") String flags) {
         try {
             return matchFunctionWithFlags(input,pattern,flags);
-        } catch ( PatternSyntaxException t ) {
-            return FEELFnResult.ofError( new InvalidParametersEvent( Severity.ERROR, "pattern", "is invalid and can not be compiled", t ) );
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException t ) {
+        } catch (InvalidParameterException t ) {
             return FEELFnResult.ofError( new InvalidParametersEvent( Severity.ERROR, t.getMessage(), "cannot be null or is invalid", t ) );
         } catch (Throwable t) {
-            return FEELFnResult.ofError( new InvalidParametersEvent( Severity.ERROR, "pattern", "is invalid and can not be compiled", t ) );
+            String errorMessage;
+            if (t.getMessage() != null && !t.getMessage().isEmpty()) {
+                errorMessage = "Error: " + t.getMessage();
+            } else {
+                errorMessage = String.format("Some of the provided parameters might be invalid. Input: '%s', Pattern: '%s', Flags: '%s'",
+                        input, pattern, flags);
+            }
+            return FEELFnResult.ofError(new InvalidParametersEvent(Severity.ERROR, errorMessage, t));
         }
     }
 
-    static FEELFnResult<Object> matchFunctionWithFlags(String input, String pattern, String flags) {
+    static FEELFnResult<Boolean> matchFunctionWithFlags(String input, String pattern, String flags) {
         log.debug("Input:  {} , Pattern: {}, Flags: {}", input, pattern, flags);
         if ( input == null ) {
             throw new InvalidParameterException("input");
diff --git a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/ReplaceFunction.java b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/ReplaceFunction.java
index d64f2011c0b..9bee8fd0fd4 100644
--- a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/ReplaceFunction.java
+++ b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/runtime/functions/ReplaceFunction.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public FEELFnResult<String> invoke(@ParameterName("input") String input, @Parame
             return FEELFnResult.ofError( new InvalidParametersEvent( Severity.ERROR, "replacement", "cannot be null" ) );
         }
 
-        return FEELFnResult.ofResult(XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input,pattern,replacement,flags).toString());
+        return FEELFnResult.ofResult(String.valueOf(XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input,pattern,replacement,flags)));
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtil.java b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtil.java
index b643dfc1397..db8415a31c7 100644
--- a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtil.java
+++ b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/main/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtil.java
@@ -22,26 +22,26 @@
 
 public class XQueryImplUtil {
 
-    public static Object executeMatchesFunction(String input, String pattern, String flags){
+    public static Boolean executeMatchesFunction(String input, String pattern, String flags){
         flags = flags == null ? "" : flags;
         String xQueryExpression = String.format("matches('%s', '%s', '%s')", input, pattern, flags);
-        return evaluateXQueryExpression(xQueryExpression);
+        return evaluateXQueryExpression(xQueryExpression, Boolean.class);
     }
 
-    public static Object executeReplaceFunction(String input, String pattern, String replacement, String flags) {
+    public static String executeReplaceFunction(String input, String pattern, String replacement, String flags) {
         flags = flags == null ? "" : flags;
         String xQueryExpression = String.format("replace('%s', '%s', '%s', '%s')", input, pattern, replacement, flags);
-            return evaluateXQueryExpression(xQueryExpression);
+            return evaluateXQueryExpression(xQueryExpression, String.class);
     }
 
-     static Object evaluateXQueryExpression (String expression) {
+     static <T> T evaluateXQueryExpression (String expression, Class<T> expectedTypeResult) {
          try {
              Processor processor = new Processor(false);
              XQueryCompiler compiler = processor.newXQueryCompiler();
              XQueryExecutable executable = compiler.compile(expression);
              XQueryEvaluator queryEvaluator = executable.load();
              XdmItem resultItem = queryEvaluator.evaluateSingle();
-             return ((XdmAtomicValue) resultItem).getValue();
+             return expectedTypeResult.cast((((XdmAtomicValue) resultItem).getValue()));
          } catch (ClassCastException | SaxonApiException e) {
              throw new IllegalStateException(e);
          }
diff --git a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/test/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtilTest.java b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/test/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtilTest.java
index 841ab5dda10..52b23b29203 100644
--- a/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/test/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtilTest.java
+++ b/kie-dmn/kie-dmn-feel/src/test/java/org/kie/dmn/feel/util/XQueryImplUtilTest.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ void executeMatchesFunctionTest() {
         String input = "test";
         String pattern = "^test";
         String flags = "i";
-        Object retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeMatchesFunction(input, pattern,
+        boolean retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeMatchesFunction(input, pattern,
                 flags);
         boolean expected = true;
         assertThat(retrieved).isNotNull().isEqualTo(expected);
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ void executeReplaceFunctionTest() {
         String pattern = "^test";
         String replacement = "ttt";
         String flags = "";
-        Object retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input, pattern, replacement,
-                flags);
+        String retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input, pattern, replacement,
+                flags).toString();
         String expected = "tttString";
         assertThat(retrieved).isNotNull().isEqualTo(expected);
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ void executeReplaceFunctionTest() {
         pattern = "o.b";
         replacement = "ttt";
         flags = "s";
-        retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input, pattern, replacement, flags);
+        retrieved = XQueryImplUtil.executeReplaceFunction(input, pattern, replacement, flags).toString();
         expected = "ftttar";
         assertThat(retrieved).isNotNull().isEqualTo(expected);
     }