Christie: Mount Pleasant ready for semi-finals

SPORTING DIRECTOR of Mount Pleasant Academy Paul Christie says no effort will be spared to grab a first-leg victory when they face Defence Force FC of Trinidad and Tobago in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup semi-finals on Wednesday. The game, which will be played in Trinidad and Tobago, is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm. (Jamaica time).

The St Ann-based Mount Pleasant Academy will enter the semi-finals oozing confidence after finishing the group stage with a perfect record, winning all four games before defeating another Trinidad and Tobago club, Central FC, 2-0 to advance.

Christie told The Gleaner the game that though the game was just the first leg, the club see it as crucial and is determined come away with a positive result.

“Our technical staff led by Theodore Whitmore is fully aware and understands the compilation of this team that was assembled. It was primarily for this competition and now that we are here, we understand the level,” said Christie.

“We were there last year and we realised that we weren’t good enough and we went back to the drawing board and we are here now and we don’t have any excuse, we are in the semifinals and the game starts at nil-all.”

“It is a two-leg tie and so we have to go out there and give of our best. We know that this Defence team is a quality team and they will be playing at home and the Trinidad fans will be out in their numbers,” he said.

Mount Pleasant will also be banking on their national striker Warner Brown, who recently returned from injury. Brown, regarded as one of the top strikers in the Caribbean, was the top scorer in last season’s Jamaica Premier League, netting 22 goals for his former club, Arnett Gardens.

Christie also noted that the game goes beyond just a club rivalry and therefore he is expecting a very tough encounter from his opponents on Wednesday.

“This is not a Mount Pleasant Academy, Defence Force rivalry, it is a Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago rivalry. This rivalry dates back long before my birth and so there is a lot of passion and a lot of history,” he said.

“We were there a couple of weeks ago against Central and so we know the intensity of the environment and we will be playing at the same stadium and so we have been preparing for this match-up,” Christie stated.

“The players are well-prepared and ready and I think that we have done enough for this game so we just have to go out there and execute our game plan.”

The second leg will be played in Jamaica on October 29.