Dandy Town 3 X-Roads 2

Champions Dandy Town began their Premier Division title defence on the front foot after edging X-Roads Warriors in an evenly fought contest at PHC Field last night.

Hornets jumped out to a 2-0 lead through goals from Jahkari Furbert and Lejuan Simmons before X-Roads hit back through strikes from Kneiko Richardson and Donavan Thompson to blow the game wide open.

However, just when it seemed both teams would have to settle for a share of the points Edry Moore popped up with a late winner for Hornets.

Town coach Jarreau Hayward was happy to see his team get their league title defence off to a winning start.

“It’s a great step today for sure,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“X-Roads has made great strides since last season and I know they are going to take points off a lot of teams. So today three points was super important to just get us going.”

Hayward hailed his team’s character and perseverance to press on in search of a winner after their opponents grabbed a late equaliser.

“These guys show a lot of character when it’s time, but we need to work on just ending games,” he said.

“We had opportunities to finish it early. But we are going to continue to work on it, and again today was just an important step for us.”

X-Roads took the match to their opponents and applied early pressure from the opening whistle.

However, midfielder Furbert turned the game on its head when he broke the deadlock in the third minute against the run of play in Hornets very first raid on goal.

Fellow midfielder Blaiz Hall created space for himself down the left side and sent in an inviting low cross, which an unmarked Furbert tapped into the net.

Simmons then doubled Hornets’ advantage in the 27th minute with an exquisite finish. The experienced full-back gained possession deep in X-Roads half and after exchanging passes with striker David Jones Jr planted his shot into the left bottom corner.

Midfielder Richardson pulled one back for X-Roads three minutes later after squeezing team-mate Cory Booth’s rebound in at the near post.

X-Roads goalkeeper Kamran Harvey then produced an excellent save to deny Jones’s angled shot from inside of the area after Jones had intercepted a headed back pass to the keeper.

X-Roads came out swinging at the start of the second half with midfielder Tymon Daniels fizzing a thunderous shot from outside of the box just wide and Hornets’ goalkeeper Jahquil Hill saving striker Thompson’s shot from point blank range.

Hill then rushed off his line to block Booth’s effort on a breakaway while Daniels dragged another effort from distance just wide of the post as X-Roads continued to ask questions.

The game opened up in the final ten minutes of regulation time with both teams creating chances.

Harvey rushed off his line to clear the ball off the feet of Hornets’ forward Kamali Davis’s, while fellow substitute Antonio Bailey squandered a glorious opportunity when he shot over an empty net after Enrique Swan’s initial effort struck the post.

At the other end, Thompson threatened again when he was first denied by the crossbar and then by an alert Hill, who did well to save the former’s headed rebound from point blank range.

Thompson’s persistence finally paid off when he equalised in the 82nd minute with a brilliant glancing header from Kahmori Brangman’s diagonal cross from deep.

However, the game took another dramatic turn when defender Moore slotted home from close range three minutes later after X-Roads failed to clear Nizigh Spence’s free-kick.

Midfielder Spence nearly added a fourth in stoppage time but Harvey was equal to the task this time around.

X-Roads’ coach Farid El Karfa was pleased with his team’s performance despite coming out on the losing end.

“We gave up easy goals and missed some chances. But at the same time I am still very happy with boys’ efforts, especially second half which was a brilliant effort,” he said.

“We showed a lot of fight and character to come back into the game strongly and at least we deserved a point.”

Meanwhile, hosts PHC Zebras edged Devonshire Colts 2-1 in the second match of a Premier Division double header at PHC Field last night.

Scorers

Dandy Town: Furbert 3; Simmons 27; Moore 85

X Roads: Richardson 30; Thompson 82

TEAMS

Dandy Town: J Hill, Y Ramirez, E Swan, T Goater, D Jones Jr, J Robinson, E Moore, N Spence, B Hall, L Simmons, J Furbert. Substitutes: H Manders, E Outerbridge, A Bailey, Z Hannay, K Davis T Gibbons

X Roads: K Harvey, K Douglas, D Thompson, D Usher, C Booth, C Smith, K Richardson, J Richardson, S Harvey, T Daniels, K Brangman. Substitutes: T Dill, A Darrell, J Warren- Smith, T Ibraheem- Talbot, S Somner, R Simmons, Y Burgess

Referee: D Jackson