ST JAMES, Jamaica — Mount Pleasant FA continued their climb up the Jamaica Premier League football points table after edging Montego Bay United (MBU) 1-0 in the second-round game at Jarrett Park on Sunday.

A decisive 15 minutes span early in the second half was the difference between the teams as St Ann-based Mount Pleasant won their sixth game of the season, including four of their last five.

On the other hand, Montego Bay continue to struggle post-Hurricane Melissa, losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Raheem Edwards’ scored in the 47th minute for the win that was described as “very important” by Theodore Whitmore, the Mount Pleasant head coach.

“We would have achieved our objective today by winning the game. We are behind in the points table so [getting] three points today was necessary. We have a couple of games in hand, but to come here and get three points, well done!” Whitmore added.

He noted that playing against their St James-based rivals is never easy.

“There are a lot of things you could take into consideration when playing against MBU. We knew it’s gonna be a tough game, but I think we stuck to the task this afternoon. We got the job done.”

It was a bittersweet pill for Montego Bay United’s Xavier Gilbert, who appreciated the effort from his players even though they failed to get their first win at Jarrett Park.

“I thought we did well, to be honest — both teams, two quality teams. You know, we’re playing the Caribbean champions, and I thought we did well enough today to at least get something out of the game,” he said.

“I think we were unfortunate, you know, a little lapse in concentration the first 10 minutes of the second half. But, nevertheless, I’m proud of the way we played. You know, much better performance, and we’re getting better. We’re a team that play [with] a lot of rhythm and we will get it together. I would be more worried if we were not creating chances,” the Montego Bay head coach reasoned.

After a lacklustre performance the previous week, MBU were more on the front foot and took the game to Mount Pleasant, but failed to make their chances count.

Mount Pleasant took over the initiative early in the second half and were rewarded when Shaquiel Bradford took the ball to the touchline on the left side.

He crossed to the middle for Warner Brown to play it to Edwards who powered it through a crowd of players and into the goal.

WHITMORE… we knew it’s gonna be a tough game, but I think we stuck to the task

GILBERT… we’re a team that play [with] a lot of rhythm and we will get it together