Former champions Mt Pleasant FA will end 2024 as the leaders of the Jamaica Premier League with 34 points after Sunday’s 3-0 win over Waterhouse FC at Drewsland Mini Stadium. This was their sixth straight win and eighth win in their last ten games.
The Theodore Whitmore-coached St Ann-based club, which has been to the last two finals, has dominated the league statistically. They are three points better than Montego Bay United and Arnett Gardens, both on 31 points.
Defending champions Cavalier FC are in fourth place with 27 points, followed by Waterhouse FC with 26 points and Portmore United with 23 points, rounding out the top six and the play-off spots.
Former Caribbean club champions Harbour View (12 points) and Humble Lion (10 points) are in the relegation places, with Molynes and Vere United, both on 13 points each, just above them.
Mt Pleasant FA leads in both goal-scored-37 and least conceded- 9 and have been ruthless over their last six outings, scoring 21 times and conceding just two, and appearing to be on course for a third straight final appearance.
This comes after an uncertain start to the season. Whitmore, who was unceremoniously released, along with his coaching staff, after they lost in the final on penalty kicks, with the club saying they were “going in a different direction,” was reinstated in a bombshell announcement after a whirlwind series of meetings over 48 hours.
Harold Thomas, who was part of the Academy, did not enjoy a positive start, especially in the Concacaf Caribbean Plate competition. The club’s ownership sent out an SOS for the former ReggaeBoyz head coach.
Kimoni Bailey, who scored in Sunday’s win, leads the goal-scoring charts with nine. Three more Mt Pleasant FA players are in the top 10: Shaquille Bradford, with six goals, and Raheem Edwards and Daniel Green, with five goals each.
MBU, which had 19 points after 15 games last season, is arguably the most improved team and the decision by the new ownership group to replace Brazilian Neider dos Santos with Argentinian Rodolfo Zapata could be paying off.
Dos Santos had led MBU to the best second-round record, going unbeaten in 11 games and missing the playoffs on goal difference.
The two-time champions have gotten off to a better start this season, from winning their opening game, being the first for MBU, and being consistent, despite a few changes to the roster from last season.
With the third-best goals tally of any team in the competition, Montego Bay United leads perennial favourites Arnett Gardens on goal difference. The South St Andrew-based club has shown indifferent form late in the year after they had ripped off a six-game winning run that had seen them in the top two for long periods.
The odds are that Caribbean Cup champions Cavalier FC will have a good second round and start competing for a top-two place, as their first round was constantly interrupted by overseas commitments.
The Rudolph Speid-coached Cavalier FC is expected to build on its success last season. Despite having to come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Portmore United on Sunday, the quality in the squad is hard to ignore.
