Mount Pleasant maintain hot start to season
Mount Pleasant Academy maintained their brilliant start to the 2021-22 Jamaica Premier League (JPL) yesterday by putting four unanswered first-half goals past Montego Bay United to keep pace with league leaders Waterhouse.
Goals from Daniel Green (12th), who also had two assists, Suelae MacCalla (22nd), Donovan Segree (38th) and Cleon Pryce (42nd), saw the Wally Downes-coached team to a comfortable victory.
Downes was pleased with his team’s start to the game and their display during the first half of the contest. “I was very pleased with the way we started. A few times we reviewed games and we do not make teams defend early enough. We give them the chance to settle into the game,” he said.
“It (usually) take us 15 minutes to get into games but not today. Today, we were on the front foot, we attacked with pace and numbers and our finishing was excellent,” Downes said after yesterday’s game.
The game was just over 10 minutes old when the influential Green burst through from the left and unleashed a shot that gave Montego Bay’s goalkeeper Darrien Tummins no chance. The wily attacker was at it again 10 minutes later when he raced down the flank and played a pass inside to McCalla who controlled well and finished delicately with the outside of the boot to make it 2-0.
Mount Pleasant added a third goal in the 38th minute. Green found Donovan Segree outside the box and the player beat Tummins with a deflected strike from 20 yards.
Then, three minutes before half-time, Alwayne Harvey turned his marker inside the box and set up Cleon Pryce to score from three yards to complete the scoring.
Although Montego Bay were much more solid defensively in the second half, they were never a threat going forward.
The win put Mount Pleasant on 12 points from four matches, only behind Waterhouse on goal difference. The leaders have scored 13 goals and conceded two while Mount Pleasant have an 11-1 record. However, the result left Montego Bay United in ninth place on three points from four games.
Montego Bay’s coach Ricky Hill was happy with how the team started but conceded that, after the opening goal, they fell apart.
“For the first 15 minutes, I was quite happy because the guys were approaching it well. We restricted them to very little. It was a wonder goal (Green scored), I can’t grumble with that.
“But the disappointment was that we lost our shape, our concentration, our focus and the things we worked on in terms of game plan. We looked all over the place and not like a compact unit.
“So half-time, it was damage limitation,” he said.
In the day’s other game, two goals from Cardel Benbow and one each from Denardo Thomas and Jahvon James saw Waterhouse to a similar 4-0 drubbing of Portmore United.
Portmore stayed sixth in the table with four points from four matches.
In the lone game on Saturday, Arnett Gardens and Harbour View battled to a 1-1 draw.
Today’s games 1 p.m: Molynes vs Dunbeholden
3:15 p.m: Humble Lion vs Cavalier