Boulevard 2 PHC Zebras 8

PHC Zebras reclaimed top spot in the Premier Division after putting Boulevard to the sword at Lord’s yesterday.

The home side got off to a flying start with winger Clay Darrell giving them an early lead.

However, Zebras regrouped and after bending Boulevard out of shape with their slick movement, opened the floodgates to put the match well and truly beyond their opponent’s reach.

Cecoy Robinson, the PHC captain, led by example as he scored four goals, while Tre Ming added a brace before Kushae Hypolite and substitute Zakiyah Lee completed the rout for the rampant Zebras.

Dunn-Ya Taylor pulled another goal back late for Boulevard but by then Zebras had long made the points safe.

Boulevard’s frustrations were perhaps best summed up by the sending off of defender Jakio Williams in the 66th minute for using foul and abusive language towards referee Lionel Cann.

Zebras went into this make-up match, from November 25, level on 25 points with Robin Hood and took full advantage of the chance to reclaim top spot and move three points clear at the summit.

“This was our game in hand and Robin Hood is obviously going to push us so we had to make sure that we won this game,” said Robinson, who notched his second hat-trick of the season.

“We went down 1-0 so we knew we had to dig deep to try and get the result, and I was glad I was able to get four goals to help out.

“I thought Boulevard started the game off really well. They actually punished us early and then we got a penalty and were able to push on from there.”

Boulevard finally made their relentless early pressure count when Darrell followed up on his own rebound from a set piece and rifled his shot into the roof of the net from close range.

Despite falling behind, Zebras did not panic and bombarded Boulevard’s goal in search of an equaliser.

Marco Warren went close, heading Robinson’s free kick against the bar before Boulevard’s luck finally ran out when Robinson converted from the penalty spot to draw the teams level after Kenneth Matthie was brought down in the area.

After absorbing enormous pressure, Boulevard squandered a glorious opportunity to reclaim the lead with Darrell and Ian Coke both failing to convert.

The misses proved costly as PHC went straight down the other end and scored through Robinson, who planted Hypolite’s pass into the far bottom corner of the goal, to give the visitors the lead at the interval.

Zebras threw more numbers forward at the start of the second-half and the strategy paid early dividends as Ming and Hypolite scored within two minutes of each other to effectively end the match as a contest.

Marquel Waldron went close to adding another for the visitors when he headed Robinson’s cross against the post.

But PHC would not be denied when Ming sprang the offside trap and fired past Famous who hesitated to come off his line.

Boulevard were then reduced to ten-men after Williams picked up two quick yellow cards for venting his frustrations at the referee.

Zebras exploited their numerical advantage when Robinson timed his run well before rounding the goalkeeper and tapping in from close range to complete his hat-trick.

The home side pulled one back against the run of play when Taylor controlled Coke’s pass, turned sharply and stroked the ball past Trott.

But Zebras immediately hit back with Robinson and Lee both scoring inside of a minute of each other to complete the rout.