TUCKER, St James — Montego Bay United (MBU) got off to a winning start in the second round of the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League after beating last-placed Lime Hall Academy 3-0 at Wespow Park on Wednesday.

Owayne Gordon, who was one of several additions in the January window, picked up where he left off six years ago when he scored the opening goal. Odane Nish and Brian Brown added to the scoreline as Montego Bay won by more than a one-goal advantage for the first time this season.

The win saw MBU move up two spots to eighth place on 18 points, above Vere United on goal difference.

Neider dos Santos, the Montego Bay coach, was pleased with his team’s win, pointing out that they are still trying to find the right chemistry.

“We took our time but we can see the difference and we were able to soak up the pressure and our counter-attack is much, much better,” he said, adding that they have greater depth in the squad.

Dos Santos said he thought they would have scored more goals and bemoaned a reversal of a decision from referee Christopher Mason to cancel a second-half goal from Jourdaine Fletcher after appeals from the Lime Hall bench.

“But I am pleased with 3-0 as if you look back at the first round, we drew them nil-all… and we did not win a single match by a difference of more than one,” he pointed out.

Lewin Purser, who was in charge of the Lime Hall team, said they were not giving up hope despite being so far off the pace.

“It’s really a tough start, but I think I have seen enough to show that we can get better. [We had] a few lapses in concentration early in the game, we asked the players to prevent the cross from the wide areas, and we had some lapses there, so we need to go back and correct those.”

He said it was three mistakes that led to the MBU goals. “We created numerous chances, hit the post three times, we were just unlucky today,” he added.

MBU should have taken the lead as early as the second minute, but Brown missed at the far right post from about two yards out, turning a cross wide.

Gordon, who last played in the Premier League in the 2018 season, made no mistake in the 19th minute when his low, hard shot from the left side flashed past goalkeeper Jaheim Williams and into the far corner.

Nish scored his first of the season to make it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, side-footing the ball past Williams from close range.

MBU thought they had scored a third in the 55th minute when Fletcher got behind the Lime Hall defence and rolled the ball past Williams, but after awarding the goal, the referee reversed his decision.

Brown, who had skied a ball over the bar from four yards out a few minutes earlier, dribbled past Williams who was well outside his 18 yards box, and his feeble tackle made no difference as Brown added a third goal in the 82nd minute.