ALTHOUGH inactive for almost a month, Mount Pleasant Academy’s Assistant Coach Davion Ferguson says the defending champions are prepared for the challenge against Waterhouse FC in the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League first-leg, semi-final encounter starting at 8:00 tonight at Sabina Park.

The St Ann-based club, guided by former Jamaica senior men’s Head Coach Theodore Whitmore, earned an automatic bye into the last four, winning 18 matches to finish top of the regular-season table with 59 points, the highest tally since the introduction of the 14-team league.

However, their last competitive game came against parish rivals Lime Hall Academy on April 7, while their opponents Waterhouse have been active due to their two-legged play-off win over Tivoli Gardens.

Ferguson, though, says their preparation over the last four weeks has been sufficient.

“The energy of the group is really good [but] we’re not going to know, until we play the game, the effect of the rest in terms of whether it’s a positive or a negative thing. We would have done some work to prepare the players for this. We knew before [that] we were going to get the rest but we don’t know how it will be until the game is played. But, the training sessions have been good and the players are ready to give it a real go,” he said.

Although the battle is between first and sixth, the parity in games played against each other is much closer. Prior to the 2022/2023 season, Mount Pleasant went winless in their five games against the Drewsland-based club. They’ve since won two of their last four, including their tense 1-0 win in March.

Ferguson praised his coaching counterparts and says the path to the final won’t be a comfortable one.

“Huge credit must be given to [Waterhouse Head Coach] Marcel Gayle and his coaching staff. They deserve huge credit for what they’ve done and the manner in which they’ve done it. We’ve had some battles over the years, and it’s never easy. If we’re going to win and get ourselves in the final again we’re going to have to earn it because, tactically, they’re good. If we win this tie against Waterhouse, we’re in the final; that’s the context we need as a team. We don’t need anything else to motivate the players,” he said.

Despite getting by Tivoli in the last eight, Gayle is mindful of the danger the defending champions pose.

“It will be difficult because they’re the best team in the country, probably the best team in the Caribbean. They’re a tough team, good all around (the players and the coaching staff) so we’ll be up against it, but we’re confident. We know what we’re up against and, just like Tivoli, we’re prepared for them. We didn’t score any goals against them this season. We drew one and lost one from a beautiful strike so we have to prepare for all those threats and keep a clean sheet. We have potent strikers [and] we can depend on them heavily,” he said.

Mount Pleasant typically dominate possession in their games and have been able to distribute the workload in terms of goals with the likes of Shaquiel Bradford, Daniel Green, Oquassa Chong, Kimoni Bailey and Captain Sue-La McCalla, who have all surpassed five goals this season — a feat no other team has accomplished.

Wary of their Mount Pleasant’s attacking prowess, Gayle says adjusments will be made to minimise their threat. He’s also banking on the league’s joint leading scorer, Javane Bryan with 16 goals, to make his mark again.

“We do what’s necessary to win. Every opponent is different and we prepare [for each] differently, so we [went] back to the drawing board, looked at the games we played against Mount Pleasant… [and] made our assessment,” he said. “I hope that [Javane] continues that rich vein [of form]. Every coach is blessed with a [good] striker and what a striker Javane is! It’s for him to stay humble as he is and, hopefully, [he] can carry us through.”