WITH Mount Pleasant Football Academy having one hand on the Concacaf Caribbean Cup title, Head Coach Theodore Whitmore says the club and the country deserve it, given their hard work.

On Tuesday, 2023 Jamaica Premier League champions Mount Pleasant beat O&M of the Dominican Republic 1-0 in the first leg of the final at Cibao FC Stadium in Santiago.

Kimoni Bailey’s eighth-minute strike means the St Ann-based club are 90 minutes away from lifting their first-ever regional title.

Whitmore, though pleased with the result, says the team can perform better in next week’s second leg.

“I think we could have scored one or two more goals, but we didn’t concede [and] came out with a clean sheet,” he said. “The O&M team didn’t create any chances so I think it is a desired result that we needed away from home.

“It’s for us now to really go back home and do our homework. We have some stuff to take care of so, without giving away anything, we’ll be ready for the next time.”

While it will be a major achievement for the club, Whitmore says lifting the title would bring a boost to the country following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

The parish of St Ann, the home of Mount Pleasant, is one of the areas impacted by the heavy winds and flooding resulting from the Category 5 hurricane.

“I think the fans and people deserve it,” Whitmore said. “I think Jamaica, with what is happening there at the moment, the Jamaican fans deserve it so it’s just for us to go away next week and pull it off. It would mean a lot to us as a club, the technical staff, the management, the owner, the St Ann people at large and Jamaican people at large. I think we deserve it.”

Goalscorer Bailey says home advantage will be key in finishing the job.

“We’re not going to be complacent; we just know that we have to work at home,” he said. “We need the support from our fans because it’s a devastating time in our country so we just have to keep working hard.”

The second leg kicks off on Tuesday at the National Stadium at 7:00 pm. A Mount Pleasant victory would mean consecutive titles for Jamaica after Cavalier FC’s triumph in 2024.

A win would also see Mount Pleasant automatically qualify for the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup where they could potentially face Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami CF, similar to what Cavalier did earlier this year.