Having led his team to their second consecutive Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) title, Portmore United head coach Shavar Thomas believes his latest success is sweeter than the first.

“I am very happy about this one, reason being, at the outset of the season, it was tougher. We were not challengers, but more defending our title,” Thomas told the Jamaica Observer.

He continued: “So every team came out from game one, even when we were playing teams at the bottom of the table. All the teams used us as their measuring stick to see where they at. So it was challenging all around. We took it very well, a game at a time and we pulled through it.”

Portmore United defeated Waterhouse for the second consecutive year for the RSPL crown. Last year they won on penalties, this time around taking the title 1-0 courtesy of a Ricardo Morris well-taken goal in the 57th minute in the decider at the National Stadium on Monday night.

It was a cagey affair, as are most finals, with only a few goal-scoring opportunities for both teams. It was also a very physical and contentious encounter, which culminated with Portmore United’s Damian Williams and Waterhouse’s Rafeik Thomas picking up red cards late on.

It wasn’t the spectacle fans were looking for, but for Thomas, his team played the perfect game and was spot-on with their tactics.

“It was a competitive game and we knew the challenge going up against a strong Waterhouse team. We knew what we had to do, but I am happy with the display tactically from our players,” he revealed.

“It’s all we had worked on all week, manifested in the game. All the eventualities that Waterhouse could have thrown at us manifested in the game and I think it’s one of the best games we have played all season in a tactical situation,” he noted.

“Our midfield Damian (Williams) and LA (Andre Lewis) were very fluid, which kept us from the start of the game in control and I think Waterhouse never knew how to deal with that… I think once we exerted self-control and stayed in our zone and our motion, it caused tremendous problem and they didn’t know how to react and I was very happy to see the display from our team, especially with the things we worked on right throughout the week,” said Thomas.

It was also the second year running that Thomas copped the Coach of The Year honour, but sadly for Portmore United, he will be taking up the position of head coach of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“I look at it as I had my role to play there and I played my part. The club is in good hands. The blueprint is there and I am pretty sure the players, the staff and everybody will give Ricardo Gardner the support they have given me and even more, and success will come,” said Thomas.

“It’s not the major thing on the field from the players, but when you have a 100 per cent backing from everyone, the staff, the directors, everybody will make this wheel function. Everybody is important,” said Thomas.