Paget 0 Dandy Town 1

Dandy Town survived a second-half battle to clinch victory over a rough and aggressive Paget Lions side at Southampton Oval yesterday, thanks in large part to goalkeeper Jahquil Hill making three late saves.

It was a spectacular change of fortune for a goalkeeper whose previous two matches featured a penalty shootout defeat and a freak goal conceded from 70 yards.

Striker David Jones scored the lone goal in the first half, making the most of poor communication in the Paget defence to latch on to a lofted pass by Yeferson Ramirez and finish low past Shaquille Bean.

Paget, who have yet to taste victory in the Premier Division this campaign, struggled early to live with the authority and tempo of the Town passing. Jahkari Furbert and captain Tomiko Goater were the main duo driving the early Town dominance.

Furbert created the first big opportunity for the visiting side to open the scoring inside seven minutes. He drove deep into the right side side of the Paget defence and swung a cross in the general direction of Jones. With the danger not cleared, rising star Eusebio Blankendal stepped into his effort on the half-volley, showing strong technique to keep the shot on target, although it did not test Bean in the Paget goal.

Jones found the net on 16 minutes when Nizigh Spence made a perfect challenge to win possession in midfield and played back for Ramirez. He spotted Jones making an incisive run through the Paget defence, and picked him out with a perfectly weighted pass, which allowed the former Social Club forward to convert past Bean.

Paget never intensified their press, thus ceding control the game to the visiting side. Goater was picking up dangerous pockets of space in the final third, and could have doubled their lead just before half-time. Jones turned provider in this move, laying off for Goater to lash a shot wide from the edge of the penalty area.

The Paget coaching team must have been extremely relieved to go into the locker room behind by the solitary goal, given their approach and lack of intent.

The home side made a double substitution at the restart, and they had much more aggression and forward momentum almost immediately. Tristan Davis and Kyjah Simons replaced Davin Dill and Rio Russell, bringing a bit more bite to their play.

Town could have doubled their lead just after the hour, when Jones stole the ball cleanly from Kion Knights, played inside for Goater, who put Blankendal through in space on the left. Eusebio struck towards goal, but Bean made a smart save at his near post.

Paget continued to ramp up the pressure for the majority of the second half, and Shakir Smith blasted high after Hart fed him into space.

Lions had three great openings to equalise in the final 20 minutes, the first of which fell to the adventurous Knights. He exchanged passes with Julian Carpenter before forcing the Town keeper into his first important save. Ten minutes later, Nelson Carpenter drove into space on the left and crossed for Smith to acrobatically strike towards goal, but Hill made a reflex save to deny him.

Town had to stay firm for the final moments, but Hill had to make another save before the victory was secure. Paget captain Hart could have gotten them back on terms, but his low effort was palmed around a post by the veteran goalkeeper.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Jones 16

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): S Bean 6 — K Knights 6 (sub: D Frost, 74min), J Stovel 5 (sub: A Butterfield, 74), J Carpenter 6, N Carpenter 6 — A Lee 5, D Dill 5 (sub: T Davis, 46 5) — R Russell 5 (sub: K Simons, 46 5), D Hart 6, M Tyler Emery 5 (sub: O Tucker, 60 5) — S Smith 6. Substitutes not used: O Deshields, K Leverock.

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): J Hill 7 — L Simmons 6 (sub: J Robinson, 62 5; sub: A Lewis, 78), Y Ramirez 7, E Moore 6, T Webb Jr 6 — N Spence 7, E Blankendal 6 — T Goater 6, R Robinson 6 (sub: A Simmons, 67 5), J Furbert 7 (sub: O Wilson, 78) — D Jones Jr 7. Substitutes not used: Z Smith, J Roser. Booked: Blankendal.

Referee: A Francis.