Paget 2 Boulevard 3

Darius Cox scored two fantastic goals to guide Boulevard Blazers to a tense victory over Paget in a five-goal Dudley Eve Trophy thriller at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

Cox started the scoring in the third minute after a dominant start by Boulevard. He latched on to a poor clearance by the Paget defence following a corner to fire a beautiful effort into the net from around 25 yards out at a tight angle.

Boulevard showed more confidence and intent early, with Paget missing that quick ball to impact the Blazers backline.

The rest of the first half was played at a fast tempo, although Blazers were far more composed in the build-up, playing through timid Paget pressure at will and using the space on the flanks to threaten in the final third.

Paget's best chance in the first half stemmed from their best move of the period. Rio Russell, the heartbeat of most things positive for Pagetr, spread the play for Shakir Smith. The winger drove past opposing defender Keedai Astwood and fired a hard shot right at De-Az Chambers, forcing the goalkeeper into a reflex save. Michael Tyler Emery missed the rebound.

The second half finally showcased the pattern most fans expect of these gritty clubs with aggression and physicality after a rather subdued first half.

Paget increased the intensity of their press and the tempo of their passing, with the introduction of Antinori Butterfield adding further height to the attack.

But Boulevard doubled their lead midway through the second half when Jahzion Talbot-Thomas pounced on another defensive blunder to finish past Deshields with aplomb.

Boulevard tried to diffuse the tempo after getting that cushion with safe passing, but Lions never let that faze them. Smith turned provider when his corner found Delray Rawlins unmarked to head home and cut the lead in half.

Cox scored his second wonderful strike from around 30 yards, this time whipping a free-kick past Deshields to restore Boulevard’s two-goal buffer.

A thrilling encounter still had one last twist as Paget substitute Kushae Hypolite made Boulevard fans nervous but their team showed great game management to clinch a deserved win.

GOALS

Paget: Rawlins 75, Hypolite 90+1

Boulevard Blazers: Cox 3, 87, Talbot-Thomas 71

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): O Deshields 6 – K Simons 5 (sub: K Leverock, 73min), R Deshields 7 (sub: A Lee, 58 6), D Rawlins 6, D Frost 5 – R Russell 7 (sub: A Butterfield, 65 5), J Stovel 6 – M Tyler Emery 6 (sub: K Hypolite, 58 7), D Hart 6, A Grant 5 (sub: K Knights, 58 5) – S Smith 6 . Substitutes not used: N Armstrong, S Bean; Booked: Emery

Boulevard (4-2-3-1): D Chambers 5 – C Summers 5, D Cox 8, N Daley 6, K Astwood 7 – E Reiko Trott 6, N Smith 6 (sub: K McQueen, 82) – K Blyden 6 (sub: A Famous, 67 6), D Walker 5, V Chambers 5 – J Talbot-Thomas 6 (sub: Y Darrell, 78). Substitutes not used: Z Stovell, I Mallory, A Carvalho, Z Symonds, D Lottimore. Booked: McQueen.

Referee: M Wyer