Devonshire Cougars 3 Paget Lions 2

Substitute Christian Albouy struck in stoppage time as Devonshire Cougars to come from two goals down to prevail over Paget at Devonshire Rec on Sunday.

Albouy, who replaced Mosiais Mills in the 70th minute, reacted swiftly after Cougars’s other goalscorer Chae Brangman had hit the post. Paget had led for most of the match through first-half goals from Julian Carpenter and Kushae Hypolite.

The 27-year-old Albouy got a booking for taking off his shirt in celebration, but that did not bother him.

“It felt so unreal when that ball went in, words can’t even explain it,” Albouy told The Royal Gazette.

“We needed it and I got a chance, so I had to take full advantage and that’s what I did.

“I anticipated the shot to go either wayward, parried, or to come back to me because I was in so much space. I called for it and then it just aligned, I took my time, I composed myself, beat the defender and slotted home in clinical fashion.

“That’s the real Cougars right there. It was a hard-fought 90 minutes, working from the first to the last, we did our business and we came here and got the three points.”

Paget had the first chance of the match in the fourth minute when Tristen Davis connected with a long ball sent into the box by captain Diaje Hart, only for his header to sail over.

Kion Knights had an excellent opportunity to score for Paget in the seventeenth minute as he went one-on-one with Q'Shai Darrell, but the Cougars goalkeeper came out on top with a block.

At the other end, Brangman tested Shaquille Bean with a shot, which the Paget keeper easily dealt with.

Paget took the lead in the 21st minute when Carpenter ghosted in from the blind side to score with a header from a Delray Rawlins free kick and they doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Hypolite beat Darrell from a tight angle.

Cougars came close to pulling one back in first-half stoppage time with Jayori Fox’s shot at goal turned behind for a corner.

The home team dominated the second half with Fox being a thorn in the flesh of the Paget defence. Cougars turned that dominance into goals as Brangman headed in a perfect cross from Omeek Smith ten minutes after the break.

At the other end, Hypolite missed a sitter when he dispossessed Matteo Turner and with the keeper to beat, the forward skied his effort over.

In the 60th minute, Fox rattled the crossbar with a ferocious strike as Cougars kept searching for the equaliser

Darrell kept Cougars in the game by denying Hart in the 64th. Kydan Browne had a great chance to level matters in the 76th, but his effort did not have enough power to trouble the Paget keeper.

In the dying minutes of the match, Amaury Majors pointed to the spot after he spotted a nudge in Turner’s back by Carpenter. Brangman stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way.

There was still a twist in the tale when Albouy struck after Brangman’s effort came back into play after hitting the woodwork.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: Brangman 55, 89, Albouy 90+2

Paget Lions: J Carpenter 21, Hypolite 45

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): Q Darrell 6 — O Smith 6 (sub: D Coddington, 61min 6), M Turner 6, L Millett 6, J Thomas 6 (sub: J Wilson-Butterfield, 70 5) — M Thomas 6 (sub: C Burns, 61 5), Z Simmons 6, K Browne—J Fox 6, C Brangman 7, M Mills 6 (sub: C Albouy, 70 6). Substitutes not used: J Wade, Z Simmons. Booked: Wilson-Butterfield, Millett, Albouy

Paget Lions (4-4-2): S Bean 6—K Simons 6, D Rawlins 7, J Carpenter 7, N Carpenter 6—A Lee 6, T Davis 6, R Russell 7, K Knights 6 (sub: A Butterfield, 90) — D Hart 7, K Hypolite 6 (sub: J Stovell, 76). Substitutes not used: M Basden, N Armstrong, O Tucker, J Morrissey, O DeShields. Booked: Simons, Lee

Referee: A Majors.