TUCKER, St James — Former national striker Brian Brown would have been hoping for a better return to his premier league home when Montego Bay United (MBU) welcomed defending champions Mount Pleasant FA at WesPow Park on Monday.

The 30-year-old Brown, who also played his first full Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League (JPL) game of the season, had two good looks at goal in the first half, just missing the top left-hand corner of the Mount Pleasant FA goal.

Previously, Brown had come off the bench to score the equaliser against Vere United on November 12.

“Its a good feeling to be back home,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“It’s a good feeling to play in front of the home crowd — it’s been a while since I played in Jamaica. It’s not the result that we wanted but it is good to be back on the field and help MBU in the premier league,” Brown, who last played in the JPL in the 2016 season when he represented Harbour View, said.

Brown, who scored three times for MBU in the 2012-13 season and on 23 occasions over three seasons with Harbour View, said he is slowly working his way back to full fitness.

“I tried to pace myself. I have a little issue with my hamstring so I did not want to push myself too much, but the team needed me so I had to man up and push through. It [my fitness] is coming along. It’s been a year since I played any league football so my fitness is coming along slowly but surely,” he explained.

During time spent overseas Brown had a brief trial stint with Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer in 2014, then with Indy Eleven in the United Soccer League in 2015, and with Charlotte Independence in 2016.

Brown was a prolific scorer for Rusea’s High in the daCosta Cup in his days of schoolboy football, while leading them to back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011. He scored 27 goals for Reno 1868 in the USL between the 2017 and 2019 seasons, and then played one season in Albania for Partizani Tirana in the 2019-2020 season before returning to the USA.

The experienced striker, who last played for the national team in 2019 when he came off the bench in a Concacaf Nations League group game against Antigua and Barbuda at Montego Bay Sports Complex, said he had not set any scoring targets for the season.

“I just want to finish the season strong, help the team get into the top six and qualify for the play-offs, and finish injury-free,” he said.