Devonshire Cougars 1

Devonshire Colts 4

Devonshire Colts upstaged hosts Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Recreation Club last night to go three points clear at the top of the Premier Division.

A three-goal blitz within a six-minute span from Lonzendro Symonds, a Darren Williams own goal and Ryan Purnell gave the visitors a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.

Purnell added another early in the second half to make it 4-0, before substitute Jasekani Furbert-Wade grabbed a late consolation for a Cougars side that never really recovered from a shaky start.

“I don’t think they expected us to start as quick as we did,” Ray Jones, the Colts coach, said. “I think we surprised them a bit.

“I am very proud of my players. It was a gladiator effort and they represented the badge well.

“The badge has character on it and I think they showed character tonight.”

Colts came charging out of the blocks and took only 60 seconds to break deadlock.

Kioshi Trott, the Cougars goalkeeper, fouled Eli Smith, the Colts striker, in the penalty area and Symonds buried his spot-kick to put the visitors ahead for good.

Colts doubled their lead three minutes later when Williams, the Cougars full back, headed an intended clearance into his own goal, and Purnell made it 3-0 when he swept the ball across the line from a goalmouth scramble.

Cougars eventually settled down and came close to reducing the deficit on a few occasions before half-time.

Vince Minors, the Cougars striker, had a goalbound effort headed over the bar by Vernell Lambe, the Colts centre back, while Machi Battersbee, the Cougars midfielder, had a shot saved by Gregory Rose, the Colts goalkeeper, at the near post.

Cougars threatened again when Zeko White and Minors both had point-blank shots blocked on the line, while Lambe made a timely tackle to deny Minors a free run at goal.

The home side made a substitution at the beginning of the second-half, as Minors was replaced by Furbert-Wade.

And Cougars went close again when Lovintz Tota, the striker, struck the upright with a high lob that Rose initially hesitated to grab.

However, just as it seemed as though Cougars would get back into the game, Purnell slammed the ball into the roof of the net from a slight angle to finish off a counter attack down the middle.

Colts then had a confident penalty shout fall on deaf ears when Smith went tumbling in the box.

Cougars dominated possession in the closing stages of the match, and came to within inches of opening their account when substitute Mark Steede’s thunderous 30-yard blast rattled the woodwork.

Tota also went close with an audacious scissor kick that flew just over the bar, as Cougars enjoyed their best moments of the game.

Furbert-Wade finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he squeezed the ball inside of Rose’s near post from the tightest of angles, but by then Colts already had the points and derby bragging rights sewn up.

n Flanagan’s Onions came away with maximum points in a heated First Division contest at Devonshire Recreation Club.

Two goals in the first half were enough to give Flanagan’s a 2-0 victory.

Threshun Smith put the visitors ahead for good in the tenth minute with a neat finish after being put through.

Peter Robey then made the points safe in the 29th minute with a 20-yard free kick.