Mount Pleasant Football Academy Head Coach Theodore Whitmore says he was satisfied with the team’s 2-1 victory over Arnett Gardens FC in their second group stage match of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup at Sabina Park on Tuesday.

Former Reggae Boy Whitmore, who led Mount Pleasant to the Jamaica Premier League title two seasons ago and to the final in the last campaign, was not retained by the club’s management following the expiration of his contract in June.

However, he made a swift return last Friday after Harold Thomas and his technical staff were sacked following their opening Caribbean Cup defeat to Cavalier on August 20.

Despite having less than a week to prepare, Whitmore’s impact was immediate as goals from Jashaun Anglin and Kimoni Bailey gave the St Ann-based Mount Pleasant their first win in their debut regional competition campaign.

“I think it was a positive result. We didn’t spend enough time together so they don’t understand what we want or expected from them. With a little belief, we could have scored one or two more goals but congrats to the boys, I’m pleased with the performance,” he said.

“You can find all kinds of excuses but we don’t want to find any excuses. We asked the boys to go out there and do one thing: to give of their best, to give a 110 per cent and they left it out there on the pitch. After coming off a loss, I think for us this three points means a lot to the club, to the players and we just have to keep working and keep improving.”

During his almost two-month absence, Mount Pleasant have signed a host of new players while moving on from the ones Whitmore managed prior to his departure.

Whitmore, though, hasn’t ruled out more changes before the transfer window closes on September 1.

“For now, I can’t speak about that. We haven’t started any work with the team as yet so we have to go in and do some work, get familiar with the players, get them to understand the system, who fits in our system and you never can tell,” Whitmore said.

Arnett Gardens Head Coach Xaxier Gilbert wasn’t pleased that his team made Whitmore’s return a successful one.

“To be honest, it wasn’t a bad performance but in the same breath, we made some mistakes which cost us. We executed and got some things right, but we were just a little bit tentative on some occasions and we weren’t tight enough in terms of some of things we set out to do and we allowed Mount Pleasant some space in behind and it hurt us,” he said.

The completion of the fixture means that all teams in Group A, which consists of five teams, have played at least one game. The win sees Mount Pleasant move to second in the table with three points, behind leaders Cavalier FC, who are ahead on goal difference, while Arnett are at the foot of the table. Only the top two will advance to the semi-finals.

Cavalier can move to six points with a win against Trinidad and Tobago’s Police FC at Sabina Park on Thursday.

Arnett Gardens return to action on September 19 when they visit Police at the Ato Boldon Stadium. Mount Pleasant will also travel to the twin-island republic on September 26 to face Police in their third group game.