MONTEGO BAY, St James – Promoted Montego Bay United (MBU) are hoping that a change of venue will bring luck when they take on Molynes United in the third round of the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) at Drax Hall in St Ann on Monday.

Two trips to The University of the West Indies/Jamaica Football Federation/Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence in Mona, St Andrew, have resulted in losses as the former champions are off to a slow start.

MBU were promoted to the JPL after UWI FC pulled out of the competition just before the start of the previous season and are still seeking their first point.

On Monday, the Ricky Hill-coached team went down 3-0 to Dunbeholden FC a week after they lost 2-1 to Waterhouse FC in their opening game.

Assistant Coach Dr Dean Weatherly told the Jamaica Observer West this week that the players, most of whom have never played at this level, were “experiencing a steep learning curve,” in a league that he said “was played at a faster speed and is more technical than they were used to.”

While Weatherly said they were “disappointed with the losses”, he added that “it was the type of goals we were allowing, and we must make adjustments.”

The main job for the duration of this week, he said, is working on the mental aspect of the players, adding that “it’s only natural that the players would be affected by back-to-back losses and we have to make sure they are ready for the next game [on Monday], putting these two behind us.”

Molynes United had drawn their opening game against Harbour View and were edged 1-0 by Vere United on Tuesday.

On Monday, MBU will welcome back Ewan Barton, who was sent off in their opening game after he inadvertently kicked a Waterhouse FC player in the face while attempting an overhead kick.

Hill was not happy with what he saw in the game against Dunbeholden and told reporters after the game, “we did not play well, we gave the ball away too much,” adding that they had a lot of work to do if they were going to end the losing streak.

Among the positives for the club has been the work rate of former Cornwall College player Alrick Ottey who returned to competitive football for the first time since 2016 when he had to undergo the first of what would be two operations to repair a knee injury.