MOUNT Pleasant took a 1-0 lead from their first leg semi-final of the Jamaica Premier League against Montego Bay United (MBU) at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Thursday, but both teams agree that the series is far from over.

A goalkeeping error allowed Mount Pleasant to score in the first half, and despite dominating the second half MBU failed to at least draw level.

Both coaches, Mount Pleasant’s Theodore Whitmore and MBU’s Paul Davis, legends of Jamaican football and former teammates at the club and national level, will match wits again come Sunday when the second leg is played in Kingston at Sabina Park.

Whitmore agreed that despite leading, things could have been different.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a safe lead,” he said. “We have 90 minutes of football to play so we don’t want to take anything for granted.

“The good thing is that we came out victorious this afternoon, after a couple of days of not playing. We just played against a team that are coming off back-to-back games, so they would have been sharper than us this afternoon.”

Whitmore, who has led Mount Pleasant to back-to-back finals, praised his defensive unit.

“I think we were solid,” he said. “We didn’t allow the Mobay United team to create any goalscoring opportunities so it’s a plus for us look ahead to the return game.”

With a short time between games, Whitmore said recovery would be crucial.

Davis, who was in charge the last time MBU lifted the title in 2016, after he took charge mid-season, as he did this campaign, said it took his team a while to get into their rhythm.

“I think we took a little bit too long in the first half to really play what we want to play,” he said. “We played in patches in the first half but I think in the second half we really controlled the game the way we really wanted to control the game. So, as you can see, it’s not over — we can beat them.”

MBU have not beaten Mount Pleasant in at least the last two seasons but Davis is confident they have figured out how.

“When we started to play the football around and move it, we were in charge,” he said. “We stretched them and stopped giving the football away. I thought we did that in the second half but I thought we could have taken more shots.

“But in terms of possession, to push them back was good. We stopped them from playing how they wanted to play.”

MBU’s goalkeeper Davonnie Burton left his line for a high ball in the 26th minute but missed, and Clifford Thomas made them pay with a sweetly struck half volley that flew back past the custodian into the far corner.

Going behind spurred MBU, and led by Owayne Gordon — the oldest player on the field — Jourdaine Fletcher, and unheralded Deverow McKenzie, they threw everything into their attack.

Midfielder Lucas Lima drew a good save from Mount Pleasant’s goalkeeper Tafari Chambers in the 61st minute, tipping a powerful shot for a corner.

Chambers was well placed afterwards to block a shot from Gordon a few minutes later.

Mount Pleasant had a chance late to add to their lead but Burton pulled off a big save, blocking Daniel Green from point-blank range in the 77th minute.

— Paul A Reid