PHC Zebras 4

Robin Hood 2

PHC Zebras emerged victorious in a scrappy affair against a battling Robin Hood side at Southampton Oval.

The start of the game was evenly contested with both teams playing a tight, smothering defence, leaving few clear-cut opportunities.

In the eighteenth minute Zebras drew first blood when Marlon Piper fired a blistering shot that was parried by Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, directly into the path of Lonnie Bascome who pounced, unmarked, to tap the ball home.

Minutes later, Hood squandered a gift to draw level but Tre Dill toe-poked his shot just inches wide.

Zebras struck again in the 43rd minute when Johnny Ball fed Shakir Smith on the left flank. Smith sent in a delicate cross to an unmarked Piper who calmly stroked his shot just inside the left post.

Zebras again found their scoring touch when a goal kick by their goalkeeper found Smith, who headed over Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, only to see his shot cleared off the line by Hood defender Darran Reitze.

His clearance, however, fell to substitute Khadeem Abraham who headed in uncontested from close range in the 57th minute. Hood’s tenacity and aggressive defending allowed them to seize momentum after substitute, Tevahn Tyrell, latched onto a failed clearance to squeeze his shot past Jay Smith, the Zebras goalkeeper.

Hood turned up the heat but were unrewarded a minute later when Tyrell missed adding his second while attempting to lob Smith, the Zebras goalkeeper.

Through sustained pressure, in the 82nd minute, Hood caught the Zebras defence napping, allowing an uncontested ball in the box to again find the feet of Tyrell who was able to dispatch his shot from close range through a sea of bodies.

Zebras steadied themselves and were rewarded in the 86th minute with their fourth goal when Johnny Ball dispossessed a Hood defender just outside the box. He fed a charging Smith who blasted home from six yards past the helpless Hood goalkeeper.