Despite a comfortable 3-1 win over Tivoli Gardens on Sunday at the Montego Bay Sports Complex and taking over the lead in the points table, Montego Bay United’s coach Xavier Gilbert thinks his team needs to be more ruthless when they get the chance.

Montego Bay United were rampant in the first 45 minutes scoring three goals and missing at least two other chances, but eased off the gas in the second half, allowing the visitors to get back into the game.

Dwight Merrick scored a double in a 14 minutes span and Jourdain Fletcher also got on the score sheet but both were also guilty of wasting gilt-edged chances.

The former champions are on 10 points after a third-straight win, one more than Racing United who have played three games, and Chapelton Maroons who tasted a loss for the first time on Sunday, while Portmore United are on seven points in fourth place followed by Waterhouse and Arnett Gardens on six each, occupying the play-off spots.

“I am disappointed in how we [played] in the second half,” Gilbert said, afterwards. “But I must praise my team for the way we played the first half. I thought we played some fantastic football. We were pressing, and we played some very good football, to be honest. You know, we pressed them and we didn’t give them a chance to play; we didn’t allow them to settle.”

Gilbert said, however, “I thought we came out a little bit lacklustre in the second half, and credit to them today, they came out much, much better in the second half as well, and they made it a little bit more difficult.”

While he said his team “did some good things, there were some other things that we should have done better. We were a little bit too casual, too nonchalant, and we allowed them back in the game, but I’m disappointed that we allowed that goal.”

Gilbert said he was unaware of the points situation and that they had taken over the lead in the tables.

“Its always a good thing, as winning becomes a habit and we want to continue to win as much as we can and do as best as we can,” he said. “We want to start the good habits, continue to punish teams when we get the opportunity to punish them, and continue to rack up the points on the board.”

Jerome Waite, the Tivoli Gardens coach rued his team’s slow start and approach to the game.

“It was a terrible first half, and it was as if it was just MoBay were playing,” he conceded. “But I don’t think they are three goals better than us, after we spoke to the team in the halftime break, you could see a difference approach and we won the second half but there is a lot of work left to be done.”

Montego Bay United took control of the game early and decisively and were rewarded when Merrick opened the scoring after just six minutes when he collected a pass from Okeemo Jones and shot low and hard past goalkeeper Diego Haughton into the right-hand corner of the goal.

He then missed a sitter after he was set up by a pinpoint pass from Fletcher in the 19th minute but with the goal at his mercy, he fumbled badly and was robbed of the ball by the recovering defence.

Merrick atoned a minute later when he captalised on a defensive lapse and beat Haughton from just inside the 18 yards box.

Fletcher made it 3-0 in the 31st minute when he turned a pass from Nashordo Gibbs past Haughton at his near right post.

Fletcher should have completed his double in the 39th minute but he steered his shot just wide of an unprotected goal with Haughton stranded at the other end.

Tivoli Gardens got a consolation in the 59th minute when Kavan Wilson scrambled home a ball from a melee.