Young Men’s Social Club 1 Dandy Town 2

David Jones Jr scored both goals to hand Dandy Town the perfect start to their Premier League campaign in an entertaining victory over a gritty and determined Social Club at Devonshire Rec on Sunday.

Bermuda international Zeiko Lewis cut the deficit to one 15 minutes from the end with a brilliant individual effort late in the match to set up a nail-biting finish.

Jones was not the only Town player relieved to hear referee Stefan Maybury blow the final whistle final whistle.

“I thought we started well but Social Club area very difficult team to play against, especially on this field,” Jones said.

“I feel that we should have had more goals but in the end we won and got the three points, so I am happy with that.”

Town forced a corner straight from the opening whistle and Social Club responded with Clay Darrell blasting over the top from an angle as both teams jumped out of the blocks.

During a Town counter-attack, Lejuan Simmons played Jones through but he hit a soft shot, which was easily collected by Social Club goalkeeper Ryan Evans.

Just after the half-hour, Social Club should have scored when Darrell executed a perfectly weighted chip over the Town defence to put Josh Hardtman through, but he blasted his effort over the top under pressure from advancing Town goalkeeper Jahquil Hill.

The resulting goal kick saw Jones have his angled shot saved off the line by Z’Chai Jennings-Barnett, who had tracked back after Evans was beaten to the ball.

Town broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time from a corner. Amon Simons attempted to clear a low cross but the ball would only slice off his boot for Jones to tap in at the back post.

The Hornets started the second half with the same intensity and Jahkari Furbert’s firm drive went inches wide of the upright. Goalkeeper Evans then kept Social Club in the game with a point-blank save as Eusebio Blankendal tried to double the lead.

Hardtman did well to block Nizigh Spence’s attempted clearance but hit a tame shot,which Hill easily cradled. Within seconds, Hill was called upon again as he positioned well to hold onto Lewis’s curling free kick at the near post to keep his team ahead.

Jones then extended Town’s advantage in the 64th minute. Captain Tomiko Goater did well to snake inside from the right flank before laying off to the goalscorer, who controlled and side-footed into the bottom right corner.

Despite the two-goal deficit, Social Club never backed down and deservedly pulled one back with a brilliant solo effort from Lewis. After receiving the ball with his back to goal, Lewis turned his marker on a dime before keeping his composure to hit a low drive pass a stranded Hill.

Social Club fought hard for an equaliser but Town substitute Tavez Smith should have put the game beyond reach in the dying minutes when he blocked centre-half Jennings-Barnett’s attempted clearance.

That put him one on one with Evans but he hesitated and allowed the defender to track back and clear the goalbound effort.

Scorers:

Social Club: Lewis 75

Dandy Town: Jones 45, 64

Teams

Young Men’s Social Club (4-2-3-1): R Evans 7 — J Smith 6, Z Jennings- Barnett 7, A Simons 6, B Swan 6 (sub: T Butterfield, 73min) — R Parris 6, J Johnson 6 (sub: Q Simmons 89) — M Wilson 5 (sub: A Matthews, 89), J Hardtman 6 (sub: G Butterfield, 61 5), Z Lewis 7— C Darrell 7 (sub: K Singh, 73). Substitutes not used: M Robinson, R Edwards.

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): J Hill 6 — E Blankendal 5 (sub: T Smith, 85), Y Ramirez 6 E Moore 6, L Simmons 5 (sub: Dante Leverock, 62 5) — R Robinson 5, Z Smith 5 (sub: T Webb, 20 5) — T Goater 6, N Spence 6, J Furbert 6 — D Jones 8. Substitutes not used: A Harvey, A Simmons, E Peets, Dakayo Leverock. Booked: Spence, Hill.

Referee: S Maybury