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Mount Pleasant coach Walter Downes says keeping tabs on midfielder Ricardo Morris and Demar Rose was key to gaining all three points against Jamaica Premier League (JPL) leaders Portmore United in their encounter at the UWI/JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence yesterday.
Kemar Beckford scored the game’s only goal fives minutes before half-time, and the win lifted the St Ann team to joint second in the JPL.
However, Downes said they studied the tapes on Portmore and noticed how well both players take up spaces between the lines and create damage with their technical abilities.
Downes said it was his plan to stop them drifting into those areas and prevent them from hurting his team and that the plan worked to perfection.
“I was very pleased,” he said. “We made a point that if we nullified their important players, then that was a big part of stopping their plan.
“Rose and Morris are good at drifting into areas where people don’t want to go. We didn’t put anyone on them specifically, man to man. But it was important that our players, once they saw people drifting into these areas, to close those areas down. So the players had to be very aware.”
Morris has three goals and two assists this season, while Rose has one goal and two assists, and Downes says that in all the Portmore games they have scouted so far, those two players in particular have stood out.
“For our boys to be regimented and go out and close down their space, I was really pleased with that aspect,” he said. “I thought we were well worth our lead in the first half. We had chances, and they had one chance. We had good chances in the first half, and we were pleased to come in (at halftime) at 1-0.
“I told my players no two halves of a football match are ever the same, so don’t expect the same in the second half, and second half, it was downhill when they had the wind against us.
“They were a bit more dominant, and we knew we had to stand up to that. We knew they would come at us, and when the questions were asked of us, we were strong.”
Mount Pleasant started brightly, and six minutes into the contest, Portmore goalkeeper Kemar Foster parried Daniel Green’s shot for a corner. A minute later, Beckford headed over from six yards. Moments later, Benbow released Green, who shot straight to Foster.
Portmore took about 20 minutes to get into their game, but the two half-openings they had were nothing to trouble goalkeeper Akel Clarke.
Mount Pleasant continue to have the run of play, and in the 40th minute, Beckford played in Cardel Benbow, but Foster was quick off his line to deny him.
However, from the resulting corner, Beckford was left unmarked to head home Green’s corner to put Mount Pleasant 1-0 up.
After the interval, Portmore looked the better attacking side, and Clarke had to be alert to deny Rose.
Then in the 52nd minute, Morris curled a delicate free-kick on to the bar as Portmore hunted the equaliser.
Portmore stayed on the front foot and forced Mount Pleasant to defend, and Chavany Willis drove a freekick just wide of the target late on while Omar Reid nearly grabbed a late goal, but his first effort was blocked by Clarke. When the rebound fell to him again, he blasted over the bar from six yards.
Benbow had Mount Pleasant’s best chance to add another, but he missed an empty goal after getting around Foster late on.
Portmore’s coach, Ricardo Gardner, also thought it was a game of two halves.
“The first half didn’t go too well, and we could have done better with the goal that we conceded as we didn’t defend well,” he said. “But I thought we went out in the second half and played our football and played the game how we wanted to play.”
In today’s games, Waterhouse face Cavalier at 1 p.m. and Vere take on Arnett Gardens at 3:30 p.m.
livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com
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