Reynolds: We planned well for Mount Pleasant clash

Western Bureau:

Coach of Montego Bay United (MBU), Vassell Reynolds, said grinding out a point against Mt Pleasant Football Academy on Monday night in the Red Stripe Premier League took a lot of tactical work given the fitness levels of his team, especially the senior players.

Orlando McBayne gave MBU the lead from the penalty spot in the eighth minute but Devon Hodges equalised for the visitors in the 30th minute in the match played at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.

"We came up against loads of experience and a red-hot team and we thought that if we could get something from this game it would give us that platform to go forward," Reynolds said after Monday night's 1-1 draw.

Fitness a concern

"We really did a lot of work. We figured that this team , with coach Donovan Duckie , would do a lot in transition so we had to be aware. With the speed of play up front we did a lot of work to see how we would counter that," he added.

"We practiced how to manage the game. The fitness level at this stage of the competition is not where we would have liked it but I've seen improvement over the last two games... In the last 15 minutes of the game we had to put in Dwayne Ambusley to sort of stabilise and assure us of the point."

Reynolds is aware of the lack of fitness, especially among senior players, at the back end of last season at Montego Bay United.

"Certainly it is an issue, not only for MBU but many of the clubs. I wasn't around towards the end of last season so I am not certain what measures were put in place to prevent that. It was a concern of mine looking on from the stands last season and is something that would have been worrying us in terms of the players that returned last in the preseason. We need to look at and possibly put something in place to prevent this from reoccurring," said Reynolds.