North Village 0 Dandy Town 1

Dandy Town goalkeeper Jaiden Manders secured victory for his team with a last-minute penalty save in this Dudley Eve Trophy match played in a light drizzle at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

A goal behind and playing against ten men since the 63rd minute when Town fullback Eusebio Blankendal received his marching orders for his second yellow card, Village thought they had found their saving grace when referee Stefan Maybury awarded them a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game.

Jordan Outerbridge was brought down from behind by Edry Moore when heading for goal but the agile Manders sprung to his right to save Village captain Jalen’s Harvey’s soft penalty.

There was controversy after the kick with the assistant referee appearing to flag for for a goal-line infringement by the goalkeeper but after consultation, referee Maybury allowed Manders’s heroics to stand.

Earlier, Town had started on the front foot forcing North Village’s goalkeeper Pierre Smith, playing because regular goalkeeper Detre Bell is on international duty with Bermuda, to make two unorthodox saves with his feet in the opening minute.

This early pressure led to the only goal of the game in the fifth minute when a cross from the right found Riley Robinson, who controlled and cut back sharply before curling the ball into the bottom left corner as goalkeeper Smith could only watch in agony.

In the twentieth minute, Town were awarded a penalty of their own when defender Quinn Outerbridge tackled David Jones Jr from the side but got more of the player than the ball as he was heading for goal. Jones brushed himself off only to see custodian Smith make another unorthodox save by sticking his right foot out to block the shot.

Village nearly equalised midway through the first half but Town defender Yeferson Ramirez chased a goalbound shot to clear off the line after Manders was beaten. Moments later, Ramirez nearly doubled Town’s lead himself but headed Blankendal’s corner inches wide at the back post.

Village should have pulled level with the last kick of the game when Che’kai Caisey produced some good dribbling skills to slip Amir Dill through but the forward got his feet tangled with the ball rolling away from him into Manders’s waiting arms.

The second half started with the same intensity. Manders’s long goal kick found the head of Nzigh Spence, who glanced a header to Jones but goalkeeper Smith was alert to advance and block his effort.

At the other end, Jordan Outerbridge forced Manders into making two diving saves as Village pushed for an equaliser. Their cause looked to be helped when Blankendal was dismissed in the 63rd minute for a second incident of handball, with Village attempting to capitalise by pushing an extra player forward in their attacks.

Harvey ventured forward on one of those moves but headed wide of the upright when well positioned before speedy substitute Torque Outerbridge made a darting run down the left flank to cross for Jabari Hayward to execute a perfect downward header, which brought a brilliant reflex save from Manders, who pushed the bouncing ball over the top.

Minutes later and with time ticking down, Manders was called upon to make that important penalty save to secure the victory for new coach Jarreau Hayward.

“Tonight we showed a lot of heart and put in a lot of hard work, especially after going down to ten men,” Hayward said. “We showed character to fight until the end. I’ll take the win but we still have work to do.”

Goals

Dandy Town: Robinson 5

Teams

North Village (4-2-3-1): P Smith —- K Harrison, J Harvey, Q Outerbridge (sub: T Williams, 80minb), K Cann (sub: Jabari Hayward, 80) --- S Spence (sub: K Knights, 46), J Chapman --- J Outerbridge, C Caisey (sub: M Paynter, 73), A Dill --- T Tucker (sub: T Outerbridge 60). Substitutes not used: Jabri Hayward, R Sampson.

Dandy town (4-2-3-1): J Manders — E Blankendal, E Moore, Y Ramirez (sub: J Eve, 83), A Lewis --- Q Maynard, J Robinson (sub: J Johnson, 60) --- R Robinson (sub: Z Smith, 83), N Spence (sub: M Joell, 63), J Furbert --- D Jones Jr. (sub: T Smith, 90+2). Substitutes not used: J Eve, A Harvey. Booked: Blankendal, Moore. Sent off: Blankendal.

Referee: S Maybury