X Roads Warriors 2 Devonshire Colts 5

A Senoj Mitchell hat-trick catapulted Devonshire Colts to the top of the Premier Division as they handed X-Roads their first loss of the season at Lord’s on Sunday.

The livewire forward converted twice in the first half and completed his treble in added time at the end of the second half to put an exclamation mark on the away side’s convincing display.

Elisha Darrell and substitute Jahzardae Samuels netted Colts’ other goals, while X-Roads replied through a Jorj Dublin own goal and a Krishun Douglas penalty.

Ray Jones, the Colts coach, was delighted to come away with the points as his team continued their excellent start to the season.

“I’m proud of the boys under the circumstances,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“We started well but once the weather made the pitch deteriorate it became more of a scrappy game, which we were trying to avoid because we know X-Roads come hard and make it difficult for you.

“In the second half it became a very transitional game and I think we played right into their hands. But at the critical time we brought on some fresh players and they impacted the game. Jahzardae Samuels made it 4-2, which pretty much kills the game and then Chemarl Henry sets up Senoj to get a hat-trick.

“They were game changers and helped us today but I thought the team dug it out and we are happy with the three points. That’s three wins in a row so now we have to see if we can build on that and continue the consistency.”

Colts made a dream start when Mitchell broke the deadlock with the first attack on goal by either side. Colts captain Teniko Eve played Mitchell through on goal and he planted his shot into the far bottom corner.

Darrell doubled the Colts lead with a powerful shot that gave X -Roads goalkeeper Kamran Harvey no chance after some good link-up play between Mitchell and Keino Burch.

Mitchell then extended the lead after dispossessing X- Roads central defender Edivaldo Joao Abranches just outside the box and dribbling a yard or two before firing a low shot into the far bottom corner.

X-Roads were then thrown a lifeline when Colts central defender Dublin headed Kahmori Brangman’s corner into his own net.

Colts had the ball in the back of the net again after catching their opponents short at the back with another counter-attack but their joy was short-lived as Darrell’s goal was ruled offside.

X-Roads made a brighter start to the second half with Brangman curling just wide and Colts goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert getting a strong arm to keep out Donovan Thompson’s goal-bound effort.

They continued the pressure on as the game opened up and were awarded a penalty when Dublin was penalised for a foul against Thompson. Douglas converted to cut the deficit to one.

Jones introduced Henry and Samuels after an hour and the tactical ploy paid dividends as the duo had a say in their sides’s final two goals.

Samuels reacted first to a Henry rebound to give Colts more breathing room and stop X-Roads’s fight back.

Henry then pounced on sloppy goalkeeping and crossed the ball for the unmarked Mitchell to head home to complete his hat-trick with his fifth goal in two matches.

X-Roads coach Farid El Karfa cited the wet conditions and costly errors for his team’s downfall.

“We did not do well with the wet surface which cost us a lot of individual mistakes,” he said.

“I think three out of five goals came out of individual mistakes due to not dealing or managing the surface or the conditions of the game well.

“The opposition took advantage of that and their finishing was really good. They punished us through counter attacking.”

SCORERS

X-Roads: Dublin og 34, Douglas 68 pen

Devonshire Colts: Mitchell 2, 21, 90+1, Darrell, 9, Samuels 83

TEAMS

X-Roads (4-2-3-1): K Harvey 6 — T Dill 7, E Abranches 5, C Smith 5, T Daniels 7 — J Sousa 5, K Douglas 6 — S McKittrick 5, J Lottimore 5 (sub: J Bean, 46min 6), K Brangman 7 — D Thompson 5. Substitutes not used: D Teleman, C Smith, J Dill, K Richardson, R Simmons, A Cajee. Booked: Thompson, Bean.

Devonshire Colts (4-3-3): J Mills-Furbert 7 — M Isaac 7, J Dublin 6, D Jackson 7, S Robinson 6 (sub: J Samuels, 59 6) — Z Burgess 8, D Ball 7, S Mitchell 8 (sub: N Van Duyne, 90+3) — K Burch 7 (sub: J Jackson, 86), E Darrell 7, T Eve 7 (sub: C Henry, 59 7). Substitutes not used: S Blair-Paynter, A Hart, F Lema. Booked: Ball, Isaac.

Referee: D Jackson