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Caribbean Cup: No sweat for Mount Pleasant
October 01, 2025
Mount Pleasant Football Academy ended the group phase of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup last night with a perfect record, after a comfortable 2-0 win over Universidad O&M at the National Stadium.
Gadial Irving put the hosts ahead with a 35th minute free kick, and Rinaldo Biggs sealed the win with a second goal in the 63rd minute.
Mount Pleasant topped the group with maximum 12 points, six more than O&M who secured the other semi-final spot from the group.
After the game, Mount Pleasant coach Theodore Whitmore said it's mission accomplished for the first stage.
"Very pleased with the result. We have achieved our objective by coming out of the group and qualifying for the next stage. And the pleasing thing again is that we didn't concede in the past four games," he said.
After a cagey start by both teams, Mount Pleasant created the first real opening after 10 minutes.
First Biggs pulled the ball back from the goalline, with the pass intended for Raheem Edwards, but his effort was cut out by a defender.
Moments later, Tevin Shaw and Biggs both had good looks on goal from an Irving corner but both failed to make solid contact.
Edwards had the best chance of the half after 23 minutes when he rounded the O&M goalkeeper but he placed the ball into the side-netting. Daniel Green created a good opportunity for himself in the 33rd minute, but he kicked straight to the goalkeeper after cutting inside his marker from the right.
However, the winners went in front two minutes later, when Irving beat Iraitz Agirreuretta in the O&M goal with a well taken free kick, from 25 yards.
But they almost let the visitors back in the game immediately from the restart, when they lost possession just outside the box, and Anyelo Gomez fired the loose ball just wide of the target.
Mount Pleasant continued to create the better openings after the break, with their opponents getting little to nothing against the group leaders' defence.
The home team extended their lead after 63 minutes when Edwards rounded the goalkeeper and set up Biggs to tap home from close range.
They looked to have earned a penalty in the 73rd minute when Shaquile Bradford was pulled back in the box but the referee waved play on.
Moments later, only a last-minute block from a defender denied Kimonie Bailey a clear strike on goal from eight yards out.
Despite the defeat, O&M coach Jose Aparicio was a happy man after his team secured one of the semi-final spots.
"We lost but we are happy because we are in the top four. It was a good game but this (Mount Pleasant) team is so good and we have to take the good things and keep going," he said.
