PHC Zebras 1 St George’s Colts 0

St George’s Colts were left to rue squandered chances after Enrique Russell’s second-half winner earned PHC Zebras a victory they probably did not deserve at PHC Field on Sunday.

The away side wasted a handful of opportunities either side of the break and were made to pay as Russell’s brilliant finish secured the points in this Premier Division contest, which neither side managed to grasp by the scruff of the neck.

“To be brutally honest, I thought St George’s was the better team on the day,” PHC assistant coach Kyle Lightbourne told The Royal Gazette.

“We were not at our best and had to dig in and try to get a result. We are not always going to play well, but we dug in and we rode our luck.

“St George’s could have had a couple of goals and Enrique showed his class in a moment in the game when they were vulnerable because they were pushing for a goal and didn’t realise that we could hit them the other way.

“We fought hard for that today and that was probably the toughest opening game that we could get because I thought St George’s were good today.”

St George’s coach Drewonde Bascome cited poor finishing for his team’s demise.

“We played some good football but we just didn’t put the ball away,” he said.

“There were a lot of positives in the game and the only thing was we didn’t score, but that’s the most important thing, scoring goals. I felt PHC didn’t really trouble us but they won, so congrats to them.”

Both teams got off to a shaky start as they struggled to retain possession and create opportunities in the attacking third of the pitch.

St George’s came close to breaking the deadlock when midfielder Cameron Neal’s angled shot from outside of the box rolled just wide of the far post.

The visitors were then off and celebrating after striker Jahron Dickinson scored from a well-executed set-piece but the goal was waved off by the assistant referee.

PHC’s first real chance fell to winger Chance Eve, who was unable to steer Russell’s pass on target.

At the other end, PHC goalkeeper Quinaceo Hunt made himself big to thwart Dickinson in a one-on-one situation after he was played through by St George’s captain Kashe Hall to leave the game scoreless at the half.

St George’s came out swinging at the start of the second half and went close again when PHC central defender Na-eem Griffith stuck a boot out to deflect Dickinson’s goal-bound effort onto the crossbar before Hunt gathered the loose ball.

The East Enders pressed on in search of the breakthrough during a good spell of possession but were stunned when Russell popped up with what proved to be the winner against the run of play.

The experienced striker latched onto Hunt’s long kick up field, dribbled past two defenders in the box and beat St George’s goalkeeper Troy Hall Jr at the near post. Hall got a hand to the ball but was unable to keep it out.

The game then opened up as both teams upped the ante with St George’s squandering two glorious opportunities coming down the home stretch.

First, Dickinson blasted Blaiz Hall’s inviting low cross over from inside of the six-yard box before Kashe Hall volleyed wide with Hunt stranded of his line.

SCORERS

PHC: Russell 58

TEAMS

PHC (4-2-3-1): Q Hunt 7 — D Smith-Lightbourne 6, N Griffith 6, J Martin 5 (sub: J Richardson, 57min 6), D Usher 6 — S Burrows 6, A Nelson 6 — K Abraham 6, J Sealey 5 (sub: R Woodley-Smith, 57 7), C Eve 7 (sub: A Astwood, 65 7) — E Russell 6 (sub: D Wainwright 85). Substitutes not used: K Bean, K White. Booked: Burrows.

St George’s (4-1-4-1): T Hall Jr 7 — J Darrell 7 (sub: N Paynter, 79), J Schroder 7, O Bascome 7, J Basset 7 — L Evans 7 — C Neal 7, B Hall 7, K Hall 7, M Trott 7 (sub: R Phipps, 65) — J Dickinson 7. Substitutes not used: R Richards, K Minors, I Graves, W Broadley. Booked: Bascome

Referee: M Wyer