PHC Zebras 2 Dandy Town 0

PHC Zebras carved their name into the record book for all the right reasons at the National Sports Centre (NSC) yesterday where they shut out Dandy Town to raise an unprecedented tenth Bermuda Football Association Challenge Cup.

Second-half strikes from forwards Kevin Lambe and Keston Lewis went a long way towards erasing painful memories of a crushing Friendship Trophy defeat to North Village seven days earlier at the same venue and also earned Zebras a first league and FA Cup 'double' in 16 years.

A lively Lambe gave PHC the lead for good when he nodded home Lewis' cross from the left and six minutes from the end the latter put the match beyond Town's reach with a header of his own that soared into the far top right hand corner.

Zebras' historical win was also their first in the competition in 16 years and one coach Kyle Lightbourne will long cherish.

The former English pro took a gamble not to start with strikers Raynel (Manga) Lightbourne and Dennis Russell, opting instead to go with Lambe and Lewis up front. And the decision ultimately paid off as the pair were very influential in PHC's victory over a Hornets team that was limited to few scoring opportunities and played only in spurts.

"It was nice to see two guys today score who normally don't for us," commented Lightbourne afterwards. "Today our big name players came out to play.

"Kevin came up with a big goal today, he's had to be patient all season and I thought he worked hard. I thought the guys were patient today and showed just why we are league champions."

Lightbourne also heaped praise on Trinidadian Lewis who proved to be a thorn in Town's side all afternoon.

"Keston was excellent. He played extremely well for us today," Lightbourne added.

Zebras skipper Chris Furbert jr agreed.

"Football is a funny game sometimes. Keston has missed goals for us all season but we always felt he was going to score one for us when it really counted, and today he did," he said. "He put the seal on it and we are all happy for him."

Furbert also paid tribute to his team-mates who bounced back from the recent cup final mauling by Village.

"The hardest thing to do is come back from a thrashing like that and we apologise for last week. Personally, I felt we didn't show up to play," he said. "As a team we worked hard on a few things in training and just stuck to the game plan and in the end it worked in our favour."

It might, however, have been a totally different story had veteran striker Darren (Duke) Simons and Seion Darrell capitalised in the first half when Town caught their opponents thin at the back on a counter attack. A through ball up the middle sent Darrell racing towards goal with only 'keeper Raymon Glasford to beat. Glasford, though, proved equal to the task as he blocked Darrell's point-blank shot before quickly repositioning himself to thwart Simons who should've done better with the rebound.

That proved to be the closest Town would come to scoring and it was a costly miss as Lambe eventually broke the stalemate to put Zebras firmly in control while Hornets faded towards the end.

The goal that did it for PHC was actually handed to them on platter as teenage full back Machai Campbell miskicked an intended pass out on the flank to Lewis whose precision cross in the middle was brilliantly headed home by Lambe.

"Our confidence grew once we scored the first goal and when we scored the second I felt then it was over," Furbert said.

Lewis then put the result beyond doubt when he majestically rose to powerfully head home Johnny Ball's measured cross into the box.

Town coach Scott Morton acknowledged his player's efforts but conceded the better team won on the day.

"I appreciate the effort from my players . . . but I give a lot of credit to PHC," he said. "PHC definitely deserved the victory as they controlled the match, played better and created more scoring opportunities."

PHC: R.Glasford, M.Waldron, K.Richards, O.Shakir, C.Dowling, J.Ball, B.Bean, C.Furbert (capt), K.Lewis (A.Grant, 89 mins), K.Lambe (J.Almeida, 81 mins), C.Robinson (D.Russell, 67 mins).

Dandy Town: K.Sampson, E.Signor, O.Steede, F.Simmons, M.Campbell (S.Smith, 60 mins), M.Parsons, K.Hurdle (A.Russell, 67 mins), S.Darrell (L.Dill, 45 mins), H.Wolfe, B.Minors, D.Simons.

Yellow card: A.Russell (Town)

Men of the match: K.Lewis (PHC); E.Signor (Town)

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.