CATHERINE HALL, St James — Montego Bay United head coach Paul “Tegat” Davis is not putting any premium on finishing in the top two and securing an automatic qualifying spot in the Jamaica Premier League.

Two-time winners Montego Bay United had retaken second place in their race against Arnett Gardens after beating Dunbeholden FC 4-0 in their third-round game at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Sunday and face two tough teams in the next two fixtures, but Davis told the Jamaica Observer he was not focussed on the top-two race.

Davis has some comfort having already qualified for the top six play-offs with 69 points, along with leaders Mt Pleasant FA, 75 points, and Arnett Gardens, 66 points, and said, “We are just going to prepare ourselves for each game, down the stretch nothing is going to be easy and we have to just play each game and see where it gets us.”

Former national player Jourdain Fletcher scored a first-half double for Montego Bay United, taking his tally to nine so far, while former Trinidad and Tobago international Che Benny scored his first Premier League goal and Nazime Matalie-Grant scored his first in at last three seasons.

With the third round winding down, there are races all over the tables — Mt Pleasant FA leads the small group that can get an automatic qualifying spot; five teams are in the race for the next three play-off spots with another six separated by 10 points, seeking to avoid relegation.

On Sunday, Davis thought they dominated to game and scored four goals after getting one from their previous three games, all draws.

“I thought we control the whole game, I think we had maybe 75 per cent of the game tonight,” he said. “We did what we had to do, but they came on with some pressure in the first five minutes. But we stood up and we got the goals that pushed them back and tonight was evident that what we worked on in training all week, we did that today.”

Montego Bay United will be away to Racing United next, then away to Mount Pleasant, but Davis was not looking that far down the road, saying they will take the games as they come.

Dunbeholden FC are in another battle, one to stay in the league next season and Craig Richards, who was in charge on Sunday, said while things looked bleak he was confident they would be able to stay up, pointing out that after trailing 3-0 at half time against a strong team, they were able to rally for a good second half.

Dunbeholden FC have picked up one point from their last nine games and are in 10th place on 33 points, a mere four above the drop zone and Richards said, “We recognised that we gave up some sloppy goals in the first half, so at half time I reminded the players about the quality that they have, just to come out in the second half and be positive. And that was what they did. We had a much better second half and we’re grateful that we played much better than how we played in the first half.”

He admitted it will not be easy to stay up. “Well, the fight continues; we know the quality that we have. We came here at MoBay, and if it had not been for those sloppy chances that we gave up, we were in the game for most part. We have a teams to play that we know that we are much better than so we just have to be positive and try our best to ensure that we get as many points as possible so that we can stay up.”

After a brief flurry to start the game during which Dunbeholden FC created a good scoring chance, they were pushed back and defender Richard Brown had a forgettable 45 minutes before he was substituted, playing a role in at least two goals and giving up a penalty.

Fletcher was in full predatory mode and punished Brown’s mistakes, pouncing on a rebound off the left upright to beat goalkeeper Malique Williams in the 29th minute and then snapped up another mistake by the Dunbeholden defender to double the lead in the 42nd minute.

Benny then fired a left footer past Williams from about 25 yards to make the scores 3-0 and atoned for missing a penalty in the 40th minute after Brown brought down Fletcher inside the penalty box.

Matalie-Grant, who was part of the Montego Bay United team that won the title in 2016 but has missed most of the last two seasons with injuries, capped off the game with a goal of pure quality, a sweetly struck half volley from the edge of the 18-yard box after at least eight passes.