Devonshire Cougars 3 North Village 2

Raymond Beach sent a resounding message to all of Bermuda last night that he is indeed the Island's top striker - and he knows how to finish!

A third successive hat-trick by the Devonshire Cougars marksman catapulted his team to the top of the Premier Division in a hotly-contested battle for the title.

Their 3-2 rout of defending league champions, North Village, put them on 24 points; two ahead of Dandy Town who have led the standings since before the Christmas break.

By contrast, Village fell further behind at Devonshire Rec. in their quest to end a frustrating season with a bang rather than a whimper.

Yes, they were only beaten by the one goal but there could have been so many more in Cougars' favour and, for the most part, the Rams seemed unable to cope with the pace, enterprise and energy which their rivals exhibited.

“I'm really pleased with the result. It puts us on track. We were on a mission tonight and we knew we had to win,” declared Cougars' coach Paulos.

“The team really worked hard and gave us the result we were looking for. We just need to stay focused now and we should be all right,”

As for his sizzling frontman, Beach, he was all praise, declaring him Bermuda's best forward. No spectator could contest that assertion following another clinical display by the striker who prefers to let his feet do his talking.

Currently behaving like a true cougar, Beach feasted on everything in his path and got on the scoresheet in just the sixth minute.

He pounced on a sloppy back pass by defender Kentoine Jennings, powered into the box and made goalie Zane Hendrickson pay the ultimate price.

The 20-year-old's second goal came in the 25th minute when he latched on to a long ball and struck it so powerfully that Hendrickson could only partially stop it. The ball squirted past the ‘keeper and, not to be denied, Beach ran on to ensure it reached its destination.

That made it 2-1 at half-time as Mackie Crane had pulled a goal back for Village in the 11th minute with a smart free-kick from distance on the left wing. His effort curled inside the right post to beat Cougars custodian Ricardo Brangman.

Beach's strike partner, Heys Wolfe, could have given his team a greater cushion before the break but he missed an open goal after a cheeky one-two between him and Beach.

However, Beach was making few, if any, mistakes and it was trouble again in the 65th minute as another deep pass from Joshua Butterfield sent the voracious Cougar on his way.

Beach struck a rasping volley that clipped oncoming Hendrickson's hands as it proceeded goal-bound and the hero of the night sped on to escort the ball into the net while holding off Jennings' challenge.

There, his hat-trick of hat-tricks was complete; the previous two coming versus Hamilton Parish and Somerset Eagles.

To celebrate last night's trio of goals he motioned as if knocking nails into a coffin - presumably Village's - much to fans' delight.

For their tireless - if not always tenacious - attacks, Village were rewarded with a second goal in the 84th minute when first-half substitute, Keith Jennings, headed home from close range.

However, they could not find a third goal as Cougars remained resolute in defence to secure all three points.

Devonshire Cougars: R.Brangman, J.Butterfield, J.Deshields, S.Smith, G.Butterfield, O.Butterfield, K.Goddard, K.Steede (D.Coddington, 85 mins), W.Bean (S.Minors, 75 mins), H.Wolfe, R.Beach.

North Village: Z.Hendrickson, J.Boyles, V.Tankard, K.Jennings, M.Hansey, T.Outerbridge (K.Dill, 71 mins), Kevin Jennings, R.Bean Jr, D.Warren (Keith Jennings, 24 mins), M.Crane, Q.Paynter (K.Bean, 45 mins).

Booked: R.Beach (Devonshire).

Men of the Match: R.Beach (Devonshire); V.Tankard (North Village).

Referee: S.Crockwell.