MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay United took a big step towards securing an automatic semi-final spot in the Jamaica Premier League, after beating Racing United 4-1 in the third-round game at Jarrett Park on Sunday.

Montego Bay’s 20th win of the campaign saw them move to 68 points — six more than Mount Pleasant FA whose 2-2 draw against Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth saw them secure a spot in the play-offs.

Portmore United and Waterhouse are tied on 59 points after wins over Chapelton Maroons and Harbour View, respectively, with Racing United dropping from third to fifth in the tables.

Montego Bay, who entered the contest looking to rebound from a midweek loss to Arnett Gardens, were off to a fast start. They led 2-0 by the 25th-minute mark through goals from Richardo Ramsey and Deonjay Brown. Timar Lewis added a third in the 36th minute and Deverow McKenzie got the fourth in the 54th.

Former Montego Bay United player Odane Nish scored a consolation for Racing United who are now winless in their last eight games.

Racing United’s head coach Anthony Patrick admitted they were caught off guard by the quick start but also said they did not help themselves either.

“We made silly mistakes in the first 15-20 minutes of the game, and it cost us. You know, [we made] some silly mistakes and gave away two quick goals, and from there on it was an uphill task for us.”

Anthony said, however, he was confident they would do enough to maintain their top six position.

“We’re confident that we will be in the top six. Today we just started a little bit flat and gave away those two early goals, but we will be okay.”

Xavier Gilbert, the Montego Bay head coach, said the plan was to start fast.

“We try to attack the teams who are travelling as early as possible, and that was the plan today and it paid dividends. We didn’t allow them to settle, and that was our plan as well,” he said.

The hosts played almost exclusively down Racing’s left flank early, and Gilbert said that was not by accident.

“When you analyse your opponents and you see certain things, you have to take advantage — and, again, that worked for us today,” he explained.

Mount Pleasant joined Montego Bay as the early qualifiers despite being held by Treasure Beach. The home team was up 2-0 with goals from Jhanni Flemmings in the 32nd minute and Daniel Hardy in the 69th minute.

Cristojaye Daley came off the bench to pull one back for Mount Pleasant in the 72nd minute, before Raheem Edwards scored the equaliser in the 86th minute.

Ky-mani Campbell’s stoppage-time goal gave Waterhouse a 1-0 win over Harbour View, while an own goal in the 10th minute and Ronaldo Robinson’s 87th-minute goal took Portmore United to their 2-0 win at Chapelton Maroons.

SUNDAY’S RESULTS

Montego Bay 4, Racing 1

Treasure Beach 2, Mount Pleasant 2

Tivoli Gardens 2, Dunbeholden 0

Harbour View 0, Waterhouse 1

Chapelton 0, Portmore 2

Molynes 3 Arnett Gardens 0

MONDAY’S GAME

4:00 pm — Cavalier vs Spanish Town Police @ Stadium East