There was a roar at the Den last night and it was Devonshire Cougars bellowing the loudest as they savoured another conquest, with the PHC Zebras serving as the main course.

Chief predator was striker Phillip Clarke who victimised a porous make-shift defence for a hat-trick as all six goals came in a scintillating second half.

Clarke tallied in the 47th, 55th and 74th minutes, while skipper Shawn Smith added a header in the 67th to finish off the Zebras.

The visitors, who took the initial lead courtesy of a Blake Simons long range rocket, also had Roderick Lewis as an unlikely scorer.

Few could predict what would follow after a first half that provided a less than memorable dose of soccer action for a reasonable, if not overwhelming, crowd that braved the cool elements to attend.

Simons, switched to a central midfield role as veteran Frank Ming returned from an injury layoff to take up a place in the middle of defence, opened the scoring barely a minute into the second half when he surprised all with a scorching effort from all of 30 yards against the run of play, one that seared into the top left corner past a flailing Leon Place.

But barely had the supporters or players finished voicing their pleasure at the achievement when Cougars struck back 30 seconds later with the equaliser.

A right-wing corner by Dale Russell found the head of Clarke, whose delicate glance found its way among a maze of bodies on the goal-line to enter at the far post.

The 55th minute witnessed Clarke again taking centre stage, this time using his size to hold off Ming during a forceful forward run before deceiving Bean with an angled shot that went in at the near post.

A blatant error by Leon Place six minutes later resulted in the score being levelled again, this time at 2-2 as he allowed a lighted forward pass from Roderick Lewis near the half-line to escape his clutches and fall into the back of the net.

Play continued to be fast and furious and it was no surprise when Smith nodded home another Russell corner in the 67th minute, before Clarke again escaped the attention of his marker 16 minutes from time to get on the end of a long clearance and easily beat Bean with a firm drive to complete his first hat-trick of the season.

Coach Mark Jennings later expressed pleasure at his men's performance, saying that teamwork was the key.

"It was all about working together. Maintaining togetherness and harmony even when things go wrong,'' explained Jennings of a side that might have previously fallen apart if they fell behind initially. "We were able to fight against adversity.

"It's all about the team working together and picking up their team-mates when things go wrong rather than pointing fingers.

"The difference now is that everyone is willing to give 150 percent for the sake of the team. Phillip really did well and took advantage of his chances and tonight ran at the defence like we've been trying to get him to do.'' The victory allowed Cougars to move from ninth to seventh while PHC remained fourth.

Devonshire Cougars: L.Place; M.Dill, S.Smith, G.Butterfield, S.Coddington; D.Russell, W.Salaam, C.Azhar, T.Smith; P.Clarke, C.Campbell.

PHC: E.Bean; S.Trott, F.Ming, D.Outerbridge, R.Lewis; S.Ming, B.Simons, S.Lewis; S.Swan, S.Simons, W.Trott.

Referee: Roddy Burchall.

Men of the Match: Phillip Clarke (Devonshire Cougars), Sheridan Ming (PHC).