Portmore United Head Coach Geoffrey Hewitt said he is proud of his “young team” despite losing 1-2 to Montego Bay United in Sunday’s Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) final.

Portmore’s midfielder Michael Binns’ strike had cancelled out the opening goal from Montego Bay’s Jermaine Woozencroft. But substitute Dino Williams handed Montego Bay the title when he netted late.

Williams’ goal knocked the wind out of Portmore’s sails as they succumbed to defeat. It was Montego Bay’s first win over Portmore this season after losing the three previous meetings between the sides.

“It’s a young team and it’s a part of the learning curve and come next season we can come even better,” Hewitt told the Jamaica Observer.

The St Catherine-based outfit had enjoyed a fairytale run over the past year. Only two seasons ago, the former champions had been relegated from the nation’s top flight.

They battled their way to gain promotion and returned to top-tier football with a bang, topping the preliminary stage of the RSPL and winning the $1-million prize.

“We were top of the league at the end of 33 games, and then reached the final. We just lost 1-2 to the most consistent team of the last three years in Montego Bay United. We would have wanted to top it off by winning the overall title, but it wasn’t to be,” said the Portmore coach.

Hewitt said Montego Bay’s controversial pre-match protest did not affect his players, but he conceded that the team had a slow start to the encounter.

“We could have been better in terms of our intensity in the first half. I really can’t pinpoint what caused it, but normally when we play against Montego Bay we would press them more. The chances came and there was one specifically that Jovan East didn’t convert. Getting an early goal would normally help us to settle, but no, I don’t think that [Montego Bay’s protest] had an impact; we were focused.

“In the second half we did really well. This was one of our better games against Montego Bay, and we dominated in terms of how we played the ball.

“We got a brilliant equalising goal — a goal that should have been a title-winning one. When they scored the winner it was totally against the run of play. MoBay found that extra and we didn’t. They capitalised better on their chances and in the end, I think Montego Bay did enough to win the game,” Hewitt said.

The head coach hailed Technical Director Andre Waugh, the rest of the technical staff and the wider Portmore United club membership for what he described as a “memorable” season.

—Sanjay Myers