Boulevard 2

North Village 4

Shayne Hollis notched the first hat-trick of the Premier Division season as North Village came from behind to hold off ten-man Boulevard in a high-scoring affair at Police Field yesterday.

The home side were reduced to ten men late in second-half stoppage time after defender Ijahman Mallory received a second booking for hacking forward Pierre Smith down from behind in the box.

At that stage Boulevard were knocking on the door with Village hanging on.

But Hollis made the points safe when he sent Daniel Adams, the Boulevard goalkeeper, the wrong way for his fourth goal of the game, which capped a memorable outing for the diminutive forward, who was also denied twice by the crossbar.

Boulevard seized early control and rocked Village on their heels when Ian Coke latched onto a defence-splitting pass and smashed the ball past Tahj Bell, the Village goalkeeper.

Village nearly responded immediately when Hollis’s effort from inside the box struck the underside of the bar and was cleared.

However, Boulevard would not be so lucky shortly after as Hollis opened his account after converting a breakaway move.

The home side quickly dusted themselves off and were unfortunate not to regain the lead when midfielder Takeyhi Walker had a shot tipped over by Bell and the rebound blasted over by an unmarked Mallory.

That miss proved costly as Village went ahead for good from the penalty spot.

Jahleel Crockwell fouled Hollis in the box and the latter made no mistake from the spot kick.

Hollis then completed his hat-trick and extended Village’s lead when he finished off some nice build-up play near the half-hour mark.

Keishen Bean dummied Pierre Smith’s pullback which the onrushing Hollis drove inside of Adams’s near post without breaking stride.

Village, who are yet to be beaten this season in all competitions, threatened to open the floodgates but instead had their lead cut in half when defender Jalen Harvey dragged Taiquan Davis down in the box.

Coke’s penalty kick was saved by Bell, back on island after a spell in non-League English football, but Sergio Robinson, the Boulevard striker, swept in the rebound.

Village started the second half off with a flurry, Adams racing off his line to gather the ball from the feet of Hollis, who then held his head in disbelief after curling another effort onto the crossbar moments later.

Boulevard finally awoke from their slumber and should have equalised when Coke found himself wide open on the right with only Bell to beat but shot tamely into the side netting to let Village off the hook.

Bell had a brilliant game for Village and his spectacular fingertip save that denied substitute Ernest Trott from close range went a long way towards his team’s hard-fought victory.

Boulevard held a slight edge over their opponents in the closing stages but were stopped in their tracks when Hollis converted a second penalty after Mallory was given his marching orders.

TEAMS

Scorers

Boulevard (Coke, 2, Robinson, 35)

North Village (Hollis, 6, 25 (pen), 28, 90, pen)

Boulevard (4-4-2): D Adams — Z Stovell, I Mallory, J Crockwell, M Tankard — K Smith, T Walker, I Coke, D Taylor (sub: A Famous, 86 min) — T Davis (sub: E Trott, 50), S Robinson (sub: J Samuels, 56). Substitutes not used: J Bailey, T Butterfield, A Foggo, D Pinto. Sent off: Mallory.

North Village (4-3-3): T Bell — T Wilson, Z Bowen, J Harvey, K Knights (sub: D Daniels, 46min) — P Parsons, T Watson (sub: K Dill, 76), N Smith (sub: J Davis, 63), P Smith — S Hollis, K Bean. Substitutes not used: D Dillas, E Zuill. Booked: Bowen.

Referee: C Trott.