Marco Warren scored two late penalties to seal a come-from-behind win over North Village and win group A in the Dudley Eve Trophy competition.

With both teams already assured of a place in the semi-finals, the match lacked the cutting edge early on as PHC rested captain Cecoy Robinson and introduced a few youngsters.

The match finally produced some excitement in the final 20 minutes when Village took the lead and then conceded two penalties as Warren showed his composure to beat goalkeeper Tahj Bell after his first kick had to be retaken when players moved into the box before the kick was taken and Bell saved to his right.

Warren then placed the ball to Bell’s left.

“I’ve taken penalties against Tahj my whole life and he knows where I go,” said Warren, last season’s MVP.

“The first one I went to his strong side, but on the second [retaken] one I just waited for him to move and he didn’t move.

“On the last one I don’t know how he didn’t know I was going to go there [to his right] again, but I just hit it as hard as I could. Luckily he went the other way.”

After a first half of few clear-cut chances, Warren had a good early chance in the second half when his shot from inside the box was blocked by Bell before Kenneth Matthie followed up on the far post to put the rebound wide.

PHC made a double substitution on the hour mark, bringing on Diondre Dowling and Kadeem Abraham for Donte Davis at right back and Kushae Hypolite up front. Village were forced into their first substitution late in the first half when striker Jahquan Smith-DeShields limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury and was replaced by Giniko Butterfield.

It was Village who took the lead when a good run down the right flank by Lashun Dill saw Pierre Smith forced home the ball from inside the six-yard box at the far post.

Immediately PHC shifted gears with Warren putting the ball in the net two minutes later only to have it ruled out for offside on Marquel Waldron at the far post when he knocked the ball back from Dowling’s free kick on the far side.

Village conceded the first penalty when defender Patraic Castle fouled Warren. After pointing to the spot, referee Anthony Francis then sent off midfielder Che’ Kai Caisey for a second caution for a foul in the build-up. He had been booked just five minutes earlier. Warren scored at the second attempt to level the score.

Village, despite being down to ten men, pressed forward for a late winner and almost produced one when Dill cut in on the left and struck a low shot from the corner of the box that just missed the far post in the 87th minute.

The match had a dramatic finish when Matthie raced down into the box down the left side with Jonathan Briers struggling to stop him, eventually knocking him over to concede the penalty. Warren stepped up to plant the spot-kick to Bell’s right.

“We all worked hard, it was a pretty even game, sometimes it takes something like that to wake teams up and get you zoned in,” Warren said. “It was good for us, too, as we played a lot of youngsters out there.

“It was good for them to get the experience of playing with some of the older guys. We completely mixed it up.”

SCORERS

PHC

Warren 81 pen, 90 pen

North Village

P Smith 70

TEAMS

PHC (4-3-3): S Trott — D Davis (sub: K Abraham, 60min), M Lambe, D Usher, D Smith-Lightbourne — M Waldron, Z Ming-Wilson, M Warren — K Hypolite (sub: D Dowling, 60), K Matthie, J Iris (sub: S Trott, 70). Substitutes not used: Z Lee, S Valasse-Paul, O Tucker. Booked: Lambe.

North Village (4-4-2): T Bell — K Knights, P Castle, T Fray, Z Hendrickson — T Williams (sub: K Evans, 78), L Dill, J Briers, C Caisey — J Smith-deShields (sub: G Butterfield, 41), P Smith. Substitutes not used: K Smith, K Jennings, D Dillas, T Jecoa. Booked: Bell. Sent off: Caisey.

Referee: A Francis.