<Bz36>Hungry Cougars devour helpless Paget Lions
Paget Lions 0 Devonshire Cougars 5
As expected Premier Division league challengers Cougars coasted to victory at the expense of lowly Lions at White Hill yesterday, scoring two goals in the opening half and three more in the second.
And had it not been for some fine goal-keeping by Wayne Smith, combined with some inept finishing by Cougars, victory would have been even more emphatic for the visiting team.
When it was over, Cougars left with maximum points to keep their league hopes alive, goals coming from young Korvon Tucker, Raymond Beach, skipper Kwame Steede, and substitutes Chris Caisey and Reginald Baker.
Sustained Cougars pressure enabled them to unlock Lions’ defence early and it wasn’t a surprise when Tucker tapped home from close in after Steede and Beach combined on the left with 16 minutes of play gone.
In a rare Lions’ attack in the opening 45 minutes, Clyde Darrell in the Cougars goal fell to his left to brilliantly save a blast from Dwyia Blyden after 22 minutes.
A quick counter-attack saw Keimo Bean blow a scoring chance for Cougars, steering his angled shot just over when he should have scored from about 12 yards.
For the rest of the half Cougars persisted and ruthlessly tore their opponents apart despite having to fight against the wind. The inevitable second goal came after 30 minutes when Lions’ centre back Marvin Belboda fouled Steede and from the resulting penalty Beach made it 2-0.
With Cougars taking complete command, Belboda attempted to put a halt to this rampage by leaving his spot in the middle of the defence to lead the attack — but his role as striker failed to add some much-needed punch up front that Lions so desperately needed.
One feared the worst for Lions with little penetrating ability when play re-started because in addition to facing opponents who were a notch above them in ability they also had the misfortune of fighting against a very strong wind.
As expected Cougars mounted serious attacks and quickly got a third from skipper Steede after 46 minutes. Nine minutes later they could have gone ahead 4-0 after Akil Smith fouled Keimo Bean but Beach had his spot kick saved by the agile Smith.
After further Cougars’ dominance, with Steede, Beach and Mark Smith missing several chances, the fourth goal came with substitute Chris Caisey netting after 81 minutes and substitute Reginald Baker adding the fifth two minutes from the end.
Lions missed a consolation goal that would have made it 3-1 after 65 minutes but Marvin Belboda — after doing brilliantly to work his way through the defence — failed to finish accurately when he should have slotted the ball home.
Devonshire Cougars: <$>C.Darrell; D.Cox, I.Mallory, J.Simmons, K.Bean (L.Brangman, 75 min); J.Butterfield, O.Butterfield, M.Smith (R.Baker, 78 min); K.Tucker (C.Caisey, 75 min), R.Beach, K.Steede
Men of the match: Wayne Smith (Lions); Kwame Steede (Cougars).
>Referee:<$> Anthony Francis
