Defending Red Stripe Premier League champions Portmore United continued their relentless march to a second consecutive regular season title when they clipped the UWI FC 1-0 at the Mona Bowl on Sunday.

It was the first win for the Shavar Thomas-coached team over the UWI this term and a very important one as the two teams closest to them — Waterhouse FC and Mount Pleasant FA — also won.

Portmore United lost defender Damano Solomon to a straight red card with 22 minutes left on the clock, but managed to find the winner shortly after when Javon East scored from the penalty spot 14 minutes from time.

With a five-point cushion at the top and four games to go before the regular season ends, East says the focus at Portmore is on a collective team effort to get them over the line.

“We have to keep taking it one game at a time and keep working as a unit and each and every one of us just have to put in their shift,” he stated.

After locking up yet another win, but this time with just 10 men on the park, East says that win showed the strength of the team.

“We are showing that we can play at any pace, we don’t care if we are a man short in the game, we just have to work as a team,” he noted.

The significance of securing back-to-back regular season titles is not lost on the players and it is something they are desperate to achieve.

“It has been a while that any team in the country has won back-to-back titles, so we are looking forward to doing that. We are taking it a game at a time, we are thinking about winning the league first before we think about the play-offs,” he said.

As important as his ninth goal of the season was to the win, East was equally happy for the role played by goalkeeper Benjamin Williams.

“Everyone has to play their part and the keeper delivered for us today (Sunday), so we are grateful,” said East

Head Coach Shavar Thomas hailed the quality of play after his team went a man down.

“In the first half it was an even game, but I think when we went a man down our quality rose, our level of play rose, our intensity rose and everybody was working for each other,” he stated.

According to Thomas, the game went almost exactly as expected, suggesting that his players were mentally prepared for what transpired over the 90 minutes.

“In the pregame team talk we spoke about what it would take to win this game and what you saw here in the end, the last 20-25 minutes was definitely what we spoke about.

“We also thought that everybody had to win their duels and we did just that. Everybody had to make a play and it was no different when you saw our young keeper come up with the save,” said Thoms.

Training ground preparation was a telling factor in securing the win when things got difficult, the Portmore indicated.

“I would rather have 11 v 11 (on the field), but we have a lot of confidence in our physical work that we do, these guys they push each other every day. These are things we do in practice, we let one team play with a man down and see how they would react, so when we come to a game, it’s nothing new.”

The win for Portmore United was their fifth in a row and Thomas was no doubt pleased to continue the winning momentum.

“We are putting points on the board and maintaining the distance between ourselves and the people who are close to us, as well as doing good for our confidence as we are trying to lock up first place,” he noted.

The top three teams in the league are the only teams to have breached the 50-point mark so far this sason. Portmore United lead with 59, Waterhouse are second on 54, while third-place Mount Pleasant have 50. Cavalier on 49, UWI on 42 and Arnett Gardens on 41 round out the top six.

The league continues on Sunday with a full slate of matches.