North Village 1 Dandy Town 2

Dandy Town laid down a marker for the season after beating North Village in a thrilling Charity Cup clash at Bernard Park on Sunday night.

Hornets jumped out to a 2-0 lead through goals from captain Tomiko Goater and substitute David Jones Jr and were cruising along before substitute Anijahje Dos Santos pulled a goal back late for the Rams to set up a nervous finish.

Village bombarded Town’s goal thereafter in search of an equaliser and goalkeeper Jaiden Manders was called upon to make a string of saves, while defender Eusebio Blankendal cleared Jalen Harvey’s close-range effort off the line as they held on for the win

“It’s good to get the result but honestly we have a lot of things to work on,” new Town coach Jarreau Hayward told The Royal Gazette.

“Training is going to be big this week and the Dudley Eve Trophy will help us with a lot of that as well, but it’s a good start.”

“The performance is good for where we are but we have a long, long way to go. Last year when we won a trophy [Friendship Trophy] it went downhill after that so I don’t want the same thing to happen now.

“We have a long way to go and that’s something I told the players. Whether we win or lose, or whatever it looked like today, we have a long way to go so we have to keep trusting the process.”

Goater was also pleased to get the campaign off to a brilliant start and feels the best is yet to come.

“I feel like we all put in a shift first game and we are only going to get better,” he said.

“We’re taking it one game at a time and tonight we got the victory which is all that matters.

“I am confident in my team. This is only the first game. We are still in preseason so this is only another step on the ladder and we have to keep climbing.”

Village coach Cal Dill Jr was encouraged by his player’s display despite coming out on the losing end.

“All in all I am happy with the performance but not the result,” he said.

“I thought we were the better team and played some good football and had plenty of opportunities to score.”

Town dominated most of the first half and took a deserved lead when Goater beat Village goalkeeper, captain Detre Bell, from close range after Rams failed to clear their lines.

Things got even better for the Hornets after the restart as Jones ran onto a pass, cut back inside and drilled the ball into the roof of the net with a shot from outside the box to double Hornet’s advantage in spectacular fashion.

Town squandered golden opportunities to put the match out of reach and were made to rue them as Dos Santos came off the bench and scored to throw Village a lifeline.

Village dominated the closing stages as a visibly exhausted Town held on for dear life. Seke Spence and Amir Dill both went close while Harvey’s shot was cleared off the line shortly before the final whistle.

SCORERS

North Village: Dos Santos 73

Dandy Town: Goater 44, Jones 54

TEAMS

North Village (4-4-2): D Bell 6 — K Harrison 6, J Harvey 6, R Sampson 6, K Knights 6 (A Dos Santos, 60 7) — S Spence 7, J Outerbridge 6, L Steede 6 (J Chapman, 60min 6), C Caisey 6 — K Scott 6 (P Smith, 44 6) A Dill 6. Substitutes not used: K Cann, M Paynter, T Tucker, Jabri Hayward, J Hayward, I Simmons

Dandy Town (4-3-3): J Manders 7 — A Lewis 7, Y Ramirez 7, E Moore 7, E Blankendal 7 — R Robinson 7 (Z Smith, 82), Q Maynard 7, N Spence 7 (J Robinson, 61, 7) — Goater 7, A Bailey 7 ( Jones, 29, 6), J Furbert 7. Substitutes not used: J Hill, D Leverock, J Eve, A Harvey, T Smith

Referee: S Maybury