Despite seeing Mount Pleasant FA’s record 12-game win streak come to an end on Sunday, Head Coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore believes his players deserve huge credit for their performances in the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League.

Last season’s finalists went down 1-2 to hosts Harbour View FC which was their first defeat since October and just their second all season.

First-half strikes from Rohan Brown and Oquasso Chong made the difference for Harbour View.

Mount Pleasant ended the game with 10 men after midfielder Jahshaun Anglin was sent off for his role in an incident with a spectator. Daniel Green’s strike in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage turned out to be a consolation for Mount Pleasant.

Whitmore said their opponents were better on the day, but was satisfied with his team’s efforts.

“Even today I was pleased with the team, not just the games gone by,” he said.

“You have to give credit to Harbour View. I didn’t think we were complacent. We did some good stuff, we didn’t create a lot of goalscoring opportunities but we got chances to get back in the game. We happened to score late but [I] can’t knock the Harbour View team, they wanted it more than us,” the Mount Pleasant coach explained.

The 2023 JPL champions Mount Pleasant remain top of the table on 52 points, while Harbour View move out of the relegation zone to 12th on 19 points.

Harbour View Assistant Coach Damion “Stew Peas” Stewart believes his team can go on a run to avoid relegation after beating the league’s best team.

“Today we came out fighting and that was the base of the victory. We came into the game to win the game, we didn’t come for a point because we know where we are in the league so we need to pick up points, especially at home,” he said.

“What [the win] says about my team is that we’re capable of doing it so we just need to believe in ourselves and rise up the table,” Stewart added.

Nine of Mount Pleasant’s players are set to join the Jamaica Reggae Boyz local camp on Tuesday ahead of their two friendly internationals against Trinidad and Tobago, starting on Thursday.

Head Coach Steve McClaren watched the game from the stands at the Harbour View Stadium.

Whitmore, the former Reggae Boyz midfielder and head coach, wants his players to impress on international duty like they’ve done at club level.

“It’s just for them to go out there and represent themselves well. They just need to go out there and play the game, show what got them there and just enjoy it,” he said.

— Daniel Blake