Social Club 3 Dandy Town 7

Angelo Simmons notched a hat-trick to guide Dandy Town to a hard-fought victory over relegated Young Men’s Social Club who squandered a 3-0 lead at Police Field yesterday.

The Town captain opened his team’s account in the first half before adding two more after the interval to complete his treble and heap more misery on the home side who played the final half-hour a man short after striker Saki Tuzo was sent off after picking up a second booking.

Damon Ming, Oneko Lowe and substitutes Darico Walker and DaShae Butterfield accounted for Town’s other goals while Tuzo, who scored twice, and Clay Darrell were on target for the home side. Both teams had players hospitalised after picking up injuries. Town striker Ian Coke was the first to be taken away by ambulance during the break with a knee injury.

Shortly after the same ambulance crew returned to the ground to transport siblings Clay and Psalm Darrell to hospital after they suffered knee and head injuries in a mishap also involving Town goalkeeper Troy Hall.

Social Club ruthlessly exploited some poor defending to jump out to a stunning lead.

Tuzo opened the scoring when he got on the end of Clay Darrell’s pass in the box and beat Hall with an angled low shot into the far bottom corner.

Before Town realised what had hit them they found themselves in a deeper hole when Tuzo scored a second from a clever set piece. Clay Darrell’s quickly taken free kick caught Town flat-footed and sent Tuzo clear on goal. With only Hall to contend with, Tuzo kept his cool and slipped the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper to double the home side’s lead.

Clay Darrell then went from provider to scorer when he controlled Kevin Arruda’s long pass, slipped his marker and smashed the ball into the roof of the net as stunned Town fans looked on in total disbelief.

However, that was as good as it got for the home side as they lost their shape and ultimately their way as the visiting side took over from here.

Town got a foothold in the match when Simmons scored from a close-range effort that took a deflection off of Social Club defender Michael Smith.

Lowe then shaved the deficit to one when he headed home from on the stroke of half-time.

Town’s celebrations were muted, though, as Coke injured his right knee during the same passage of play.

Kwame Steede, the Town coach, gave his players a pep talk during the interval which didn’t take long to sink in as Simmons equalised from the penalty spot two minutes into the second period after Smith bundled Lowe over in the area.

The visiting side went ahead for the first time when Ming made space for himself in the area and squeezed home a shot from a tight angle.

Social Club’s afternoon went from bad to worse when former Town player Tuzo received his marching orders after picking up an unnecessary second yellow card.

The home side then suffered yet another setback when siblings Psalm and Clay Darrell injured themselves in a collision with Hall while challenging for a high cross in the area.

After the dust settled substitute Walker scored his first Premier Division goal with a tap in at the near post to make it 5-3 as Town finally cashed in on their numerical advantage.

The visiting side were celebrating again shortly after when fellow substitute Butterfield pounced on a Simmons rebound and slotted in from close range.

Simmons then completed his hat-trick and rounded off the scoring when he lashed home from ten yards after being afforded plenty of time and space to pick his spot.

TEAMS

Social Club: D Adams — C Woolridge, M Smith, T Fubler, K Arruda, A Samuels (sub: P Darrell, 63min; sub: G Saltus, 71), M Parsons,

N Armstrong, J Lewis-Trott, C Darrell (sub: M Young, 71), S Tuzo. Substitutes not used: K Butterfield, M Rudo. Booked: Tuzo, Lewis-Trott, Saltus. Sent off: Tuzo.

Dandy Town: T Hall — K Simmons, K Steede, G Liburd, L Tucker, N Spence (sub: J Swan, 77), D Ming, E Blankendal, O Lowe (sub: D Butterfield, 77), A Simmons, I Coke (sub: D Walker, 46). Booked: Walker.

Referee: L Cann.