Dandy Town 4

Devonshire Cougars 0

In a game reminiscent of last weekend’s win against the PHC Zebras, home side Dandy Town Hornets again left it late, scoring one in the first half and reeling off three more unanswered goals in the second half against Devonshire Cougars at John’s Field.

In the second minute, Town came close to opening their account after Damon Ming put Dominique Lambert through down the middle.

Lambert blazed his way into the penalty area but could only watch helplessly as he squibbed his shot agonisingly wide with just Kioshi Trott, the Cougars’ goalkeeper, to beat.

Cougars would also come dangerously close to scoring in the 20th minute when a long ball from their backline split the Hornet’s defence.

Vincent Minors was able to outpace the Hornet defender into the box and fire a blistering shot, but was denied by a fine reflex save from Mikkail Crockwell, the Hornets goalkeeper.

Ming provided the opening salvo in the 28th minute when he rocketed his 35-yard free kick from deep on the right side of the pitch.

The ball hung in the air momentarily and managed to somehow float over the outstretched arm of Trott.

Hornets returned in the second half with a vengeance and were rewarded with their second strike in the 47th minute when midfielder Tomiko Goater delivered a fine pass to Lambert who chested the ball down, rounded his defender and fired past Trott.

In the 55th minute, the Hornets midfielder Fabian Frankson, who only been on the pitch for five minutes received his marching orders from referee Lyndon Raynor for dissent.

Frankson’s sending off should have served as the perfect opportunity for Cougars to get back in the game. Cougars came close with near misses from Cashun Brangman in the 68th minute and Moses Steede again in the 70th minute.

In the 78th minute, Ming would again lead an attack on Cougars goal when he found Angelo Simmons who pulled the trigger to fire hard and low into the net.

The celebration was on when Ming was brought down in the penalty area. Ming stepped up to fire a blast, sending Trott in the opposite direction to increase Town’s lead.

Cougars would have one final chance to score when after a corner kick, Mark Steede placed his header on the right upright.

Steede, the Cougars coach, said: “This is a rebuilding season for the Cougars. We need to re-establish ourselves with our youngsters, that is our main goal for this season.

“Clearly, we’ll take whatever we can get out of this season. and if things go our way this season, we’ll take it.

“If we can place somewhere in the middle of the table by the end of the season, this will be considered a good season for us.”

Jomar Wilkinson, the Hornets coach, said: “Last year we conceded too many goals, so our purpose coming into this season is to be fundamentally sound defensively.

“We are well aware that goals win games, but having a good defence wins titles, so this is what we are aiming to do for this season.”