Mt Pleasant chemistry growing - Benbow

Mount Pleasant goal scorer Cardel Benbow said that the team continues to improve and that the chemistry among the players gets better each game after his team's 1-0 win away to former league leaders, Tivoli Gardens, who lost their second successive game in the Red Stripe Premier League yesterday.

Benbow said that playing at the Edward Seaga Complex always presents a very difficult challenge but noted his team came prepared to achieve its objective.

"I feel tremendous how the team is gelling together. The objective is to always to try get the best result, and that's three points. and that's what we did today. Tivoli is a great team and playing against them is like a nation against a nation. So we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game. We had to come out and work hard, stick to our game plan, and execute," he said.

Mount Pleasant now have 10 points and share the lead at the top of the RSPL standings with Portmore and UWI but trail the two, respectively, on goal difference in third place.

Tivoli started brightly and looked to boss the game with majority possession, but the visitors posed a serious threat on the counter, and the breakthrough came on 30 minutes when Ronaldo Rodney's sublime slide-rule pass found Benbow inside the area and he opened his body up and slotted the ball past Nicholas Clarke in the Tivoli goal.

The forward should have made it two-nil early in the second half with a similar opportunity, but this time, he place his effort wide.

In the final 15 minutes of the game, Mount Pleasant had to remain resilient to stave off waves of Tivoli attacks. But in the end, the St Ann side's ruthless and no-nonsense defence held out for the result.

"There is no pressure on us to win games," Benbow continued. "We are just here to do our jobs, and our job is to stay together as a team, play compact, and work hard as one."

He added that for the remainder of the season, he will give his very best to try to help his team into the play-offs. "Each game I come, I just try to give my best every time I'm on the pitch. Our aim is to try and be in the top six and take it from there. But we have to focus each game and try to get the best results as we move forward."