The soccer season wake-up call for Dandy Town came late -- but just in time -- in this lung-bursting Coca Cola First Division encounter yesterday.

And it was left to super substitutes Khari Sharrieff and Marvin Lewis to rub the sleep from the Hornets' eyes.

With Town lagging by a stunning first-half goal from St. George's striker Ricky Hill, Sharrieff was hurled into the fray in the 75th minute to replace midfielder Walter Musson.

He immediately made his presence felt, giving fresh dynamism to Town's increasingly weary assaults on St. George's goal.

And within two minutes, Town cancelled out Hill's strike when Sharrieff drove the ball powerfully past an advancing Troy Hall from 15 yards.

Hall may wonder with hindsight whether he had committed himself too early, but he would have been hard-pressed to deny Sharrieff.

For the ever-hungry Sharrieff, the strike increased his weekend goal feast to six.

In an Alliance match against North Village on Saturday, Sharrieff helped himself to five goals as his side romped home 6-1.

Sharrieff's heroics at St. John's Field yesterday were to prove contagious when another of the Hornets' substitutes, Marvin Lewis, stamped his name on the scoring sheet -- in the 88th minute.

Lewis, who had come on in the 70th minute after defender Anthony Wilson limped off with an injury, swept the ball sweetly past Hall from inside the box after latching on to a cross from striker Darron Simons.

The goal -- Lewis' first for Town -- was greeted with jubilation, and relief, by the large crowd of Hornets' supporters.

They had watched their team's efforts under a blistering sun with increasing exasperation as time and again promising moves came to nought.

For much of the match it seemed nothing would go quite right for Town, despite the great marking job Diallo Sharrieff had done on St. George's dangerman Clay Smith.

At the outset, Town appeared full of good intentions when strikers Simons and Carlos Smith, backed up Lionel Furbert, Troy Lewis and Purnell Douglas, linked up well.

But for much of the time they flattered to deceive, and Hill's 17th minute goal had an ominous, as well as spectacular, look about it.

Hill smashed the ball from 20 yards past Cymande Davis after making a darting run from the right wing.

No sooner had the ball stretched the left hand corner of the net than Hill was on the sidelines lapping up the adulation of the players on the St. George's bench.

In the 39th minute, Town appeared odds on to level affairs when Simons drove into the box, only to poke the ball harmlessly into Hall's hands.

It typified Simons' day, as repeatedly he failed to capitalise on good positions.

Town's frustrations reached a new level in the 60th minute when Simons struck the left post with a glancing header after a well-floated cross from the left wing by Troy Lewis.

But agonisingly for Simons the ball rebounded into the arms of a grateful Hall.

The striker lay prostate on the ground for half-a-minute, unable to believe his bad luck.

Ten minutes later, however, and the course of the game was to change when Town sent Marvin Lewis into the fray.

Dandy Town: C.Davis, D.Sharrieff, W.Rudo, D.Lewis, A.Wilson (M.Lewis 70 mins), W.Musson (K.Sharrieff 75 mins), L.Furbert (N.Smith 81 mins), P.Douglas, T.Lewis, D.Simons, C.Smith.

St. George's: T.Hall, D.Bailey, A.Todd, M.Outerbridge, Q.Francis, D.Wright, C.Greaves (D.Robinson 84 mins), L.Robinson (J.Laws 55 mins), R.Hill, S.Dickinson, C.Smith.

Men of the match: Diallo Sharrieff (Dandy Town), Ricky Hill (St. George's).

Referee: Roddy Burchall