X-Roads 0 Devonshire Cougars 2

Late goals from JaWonda Smith and Jahree Smith gave Devonshire Cougars a victory over top-flight debutants X-Roads at Garrison Field yesterday.

The game was delayed until 3.15pm as referee Garic Swainson did not have a full team of officials.

Former referee Peter Sousa stepped in to take the flag until an official assistant referee arrived at the venue.

Both goalkeepers were called upon to make early saves. First, Daniel Baker, of X-Roads, gave his strike partner, Kashi Davis-Jones, a through ball that he ran onto, beat the defender but shot tamely at the Cougars goalkeeper Kioshi Trott.

Within two minutes, Cougars had a chance when JaWonda Smith gave a defence-splitting pass to Machi Battersbee who beat X-Roads goalkeeper Dashaun Cooper to the ball but could only manage to dribble it wide.

X-Roads were the more dominant in midfield as Philip Parsons, a new capture from North Village, showed his experience with some nice touches and began to spread long passes to his forwards. However, the Cougars defensive pair of captain Zeko White and Zekiro White cancelled out any threat.

Midway through the first half, Kahmori Brangman tested Trott with a free kick that he pushed against the crossbar before bouncing out for a corner kick.

Just before the interval, the lively Battersbee was fouled by the advancing Cooper, with Swainson immediately pointing to the spot. Cooper redeemed himself, however, diving to his left to push Zeko White’s kick around the post.

After the break Cougars made their intentions known as they pinned their opponents inside their own half. The breakthrough came in the 65th minute when workaholic Smith controlled a clearance before beating his marker and cooly slotted the ball to the right of Cooper.

In the 79th minute, there was a minor altercation when X-Roads’ Brangman brought down Cougars’ Darren Williams from behind. Both players got involved in a shoving match, resulting in Williams being given a yellow card and Brangman receiving his second booking having earlier been cautioned for unsporting behaviour.

In the 80th minute, substitute Jahree Smith sealed the points for Cougars when he received a pass from Williams after a poor clearance by the X-Roads defence.

Smith controlled the ball, turned and unleashed a powerful shot that deflected off Cooper’s right upright giving him no chance.

Omar Butterfield, the Cougars coach, was full of praise for his team. “This was a decent first start,” he said. “We started on the right foot. I’m proud of my players. They played with heart today.”

Fareed El Karfa, the X-Roads coach, remained philosophical in defeat. “We competed today. The transition wasn’t easy. We fought hard but things went against us. We had a player sent off at a time we were fighting for a draw. Sadly, it was unfortunate. We will be back.”

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars

JaWonda Smith 67

Jahree Smith 86

TEAMS

X-Roads (4-3-3): D Cooper — A Burgess, J Furbert, K Robinson, K Brangman — P Parsons, J Sousa (sub: T Daniels), T Lowe, — E Robinson, (sub: A Heylinger), D Baker (sub: K Godfrey), K Davis-Jones. Substitutes not used: A Butterfield, N Johnston. Sent off: K Brangman

Devonshire Cougars (4-4-2): K Trott — Z White, Z White, D Williams, J Butterfield — I Mallory (sub: D Simmons), J Smith, C Maybury, C Brangman (sub: J Smith) — M Battersbee, S Pearman (sub: M Steede). Substitutes not used: C Hardtman, S Jones. Booked: Z White, D Williams

Referee: G Swainson