Paget 1 Young Men’s Social Club 2

Bermuda international Zeiko Lewis scored a stoppage-time winner to help Young Men's Social Club to their first league victory of the season over fellow strugglers Paget Lions at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

Lewis struck in the 98th minute to move Social Club level on points with St George’s but they remain in the relegation zone on goal difference with seven games remaining.

Social Club coach Michael Smith was pleased with the victory.

“We had to scrap for the win,” he said. “We stayed disciplined and got the result. Having Ryan [Parris] at the back was key and Quinn Simmons wasn’t really tested in goal.”

Paget shaded a first half which lacked quality in attacking areas. The designated home side controlled the tempo in the opening exchanges and created the first clear chance from a set piece. Captain Diaje Hart clipped a corner in from the right and Delray Rawlins rose highest but glanced his header wide.

Lions could have found the breakthrough with the first piece of quality from open play. Daniel Cook fed Tyler Emery into space on the left and he played back for Hart to whip a first-time cross into the box. Antinori Butterfield was unmarked but he mistimed his jump, with the ball striking his shoulder and skimming the bar.

Social Club slowly grew into the game and fashioned their first big chance when Ari Cannonier slipped in Josh Hardtman, who crossed for Clay Darrell to smash over the bar from near the penalty spot.

Paget continued to probe and created two further chances just before half time. Another dangerous set piece from Hart picked out Shakir Smith at the near post but he powered his header off the crossbar.

Five minutes before the break, Cook found Nelson Carpenter, who drove a flat cross into the area. Cook kept up his run but couldn't shape his body properly and skied his acrobatic effort over the bar.

Social Club started the second half confidently and should have opened the scoring within three minutes of the restart. Josh Hardtman stole the ball in the final third and played Clay Darrell through, but his powerful effort was tipped over the bar by Paget keeper Shaquille Bean.

Neither side created anything of note until the final 20 minutes when Social Club finally opened the scoring. Lewis was afforded too much space in the middle and slipped through Darrell to control and fire a precise finish into the bottom corner.

Paget equalised eight minutes later as the game became stretched, with a poor cross by Shakir Smith finding Kion Knights on the opposite flank. He beat Jah-Nai Smith to the loose ball and fired a low cross to the six-yard box for the sprinting Cook to bundle into the net.

Social Club midfielder Jinairo Johnston went down with a nasty knock to the head near the end of normal time and the match was delayed for ten minutes before he was eventually replaced by Menelik Rudo.

Hardtman concluded his hard-working effort with the decisive action eight minutes into stoppage time as he clipped over the Paget defence for the run of Lewis, who beat the offside trap to round Bean and finish into an unguarded net.

Scorers

Paget: Cook 79

Young Men’s Social Club: Darrell 71, Lewis 90+8

TEAMS

Paget Lions (3-4-3): S Bean 6 ― J Carpenter 6, D Rawlins 6 (sub: D Dill, 84min), K Knights 7 ― S Smith 6, D Cook 7, A Lee 6, N Carpenter 5 ― D Hart 7, A Butterfield 5 (sub: K Hypolite, 60 6), T Emery 5 (sub: K Simons, 60 5). Substitutes not used: K Richardson, O Tucker, O Deshields, T Gibbons, K Leverock. Booked: N Carpenter.

Young Men’s Social Club (4-2-3-1): Q Simmons 6 ― K Smith 6, A Simons 7, R Parris 7, J Smith 5 ― G Butterfield 5, J Johnston 6 (sub: M Rudo, 90+5) ― A Cannonier 6 (sub: R Edwards, 65 5), Z Lewis 7, J Hardtman 7 ― C Darrell 6 (sub: B Swan, Jr 76). Substitutes not used: T Butterfield, A Matthews, E Mensah, M Wilson. Booked: Darrell, Edwards.

Referee: A Francis