Vasco took sole possession of first place in the Coca Cola First Division with this hard-earned two-goal victory over the Trojans thanks to strikes in each half by Sinclair Gibbons and Dwight Basden.

But it took them 61 minutes to blunt the spirit of their young visitors, whose lack of legitimate finishers continued to let them down.

Vasco now hold a three-point lead in the division, but coach John Rebello will want to see an improvement on this performance in which they struggled for long periods.

They snatched the lead after 24 minutes when hard-working veteran Sammy Swan had his free kick deflected into the path of the grateful Gibbons who thundered the ball home from 12 yards.

By then the Trojans should have already been one up. Midfielder Tyrone Smith delayed his shot from just 12 yards and allowed a defender to rob him of possession.

Even after Vasco had gone ahead, Somerset still matched them.

Rodre Wilson came close to equalising after 28 minutes when his well-struck shot deflected off a defender and forced goalkeeper Timmy Figureido to make a diving save to his left.

Vasco picked things up after the break with Swan masterfully dribbling around centre-back Sean Simmons but goalkeeper Winslow Williams advanced to block his shot. Dwight Basden put the rebound agonisingly wide of the post.

But Somerset, rallying to the encouraging calls from coach Randy Horton, came back and threatened during isolated attacks.

Vasco slowly gained control of the game and just after the hour made it 2-0.

Swan started a move down the left flank, which ended when Gibbons supplied a cross that allowed Basden to score from close range.

Trojans huffed and puffed but seldom looked capable of wiping out the deficit.

Vasco: T.Figureido; C.Shearman, K.Jennings, D.Livingston, E.Richardson; S.Swan (T.Caisey, 63 mins), S.Gibbons, O.Steede; T.Darrell, D.Basden, C.Smith (N.Burrows, 80 mins) Somerset: W.Williams; A.Burchall, S.Simmons, D.Woolridge (G.Bremar, 88 mins), S.Riley; D.Rahman (J.Butterfield, 51 mins), T.Smith (F.Simmons, 43 mins), J.Scott; M.Brangman, R.Wilson, L.Crofton Referee: George O'Brien Men of the match: Sammy Swan (Vasco); Dion Woolridge (Somerset) Dandy Town 5 PHC 2 Not only did PHC lose their sixth game in eight starts, they also lost one of their top players.

Veteran midfielder Mark Wade suffered a broken ankle midway through the first half of yesterday's First Division match and will likely be lost to the team for the rest of the season.

Wade, who will be 32 on Christmas Day, turned his right ankle on a 50-50 ball and then had it broken when Dandy Town striker Reggie Tucker fell on top of him in the 28th minute.

He was taken off on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to King Edward VII Hospital.

As it turned out, that was only part of PHC's problem. The biggest was Darron Symons, whose hat-trick sent the visitors even deeper into the relegation zone.

Symons' booming 42nd minute shot from 22 yards helped Town to a 2-1 half-time lead.

He then scored his eighth and ninth of the season three minutes apart in the second half, both times while alone in front and both times leaving 'keeper Jason Robinson with little chance.

In addition to scoring three, Symons set up Tucker for the other two Town goals, the first an easy tap-in in the 39th minute -- after Robinson's miscue -- and the second in the 70th minute on superb cross from the left corner.

Town dominated the match on a sloppy St. John's Field pitch on the way to their fifth victory -- to go along with three losses -- of the season. More importantly, after a sluggish start Mark Trott's team have moved into third place, ahead of North Village.

Town were also missing starters Neil Paynter and Carlos Smith through minor injuries.

Duval Wilson, with a cross that slipped through the hands of 'keeper Antoine Lightbourne, and McLee Smith, on a 90th minute breakaway, scored for PHC.

PHC had a chance to make the score a little more respectable in injury time but Ricky Mallory's penalty kick -- after hustling striker Kenny Mills was brought down in the box -- was stopped by Lightbourne.

Mills also had a seventh-minute goal disallowed for offside.

Dandy Town: A.Lightbourne, P.Douglas, D.Outerbridge, T.Lewis, J.Marshall, C.Wilkinson (C.Anderson, 84 mins), D.Boyles, L.Furbert, P.Cann, R.Tucker (L.Simmons, 85 mins), D.Simons (H.Wolfe, 85 mins) PHC: J.Robinson, A.Hunt, M.Dill, S.Smith, R.Lewis, M.Wade (C.Dowling, 28 mins), B.Anderson, D.Wilson (M.Smith 50 mins), E.Dowling (J.Robinson, 74 mins), R.Mallory, K.Mills Referee: Lawrence DeShields Men of the match: D.Simons (Town); K.Mills (PHC)