X- Roads 0 Dandy Town 2

Dandy Town stayed in pole position in the Premier Division title race after coming away from Lord’s on Sunday with an impressive shutout win over fellow contenders X -Roads.

First-half strikes from David Jones Jr and Riley Robinson secured the points for the away side, whose clinical finishing and solid defending gave them the edge.

PHC were briefly top on goal difference after their victory against Paget on Saturday but were usurped 24 hours later by Town, whose coach Jarreau Hayward was delighted to return to the summit.

“It’ definitely feels good to be on top,” he told The Royal Gazette. “However, it’s a bit of a false table because Devonshire Colts have a game in hand, so we need to see what happens with that.

“At the same time, we are just worried about our process. We are not worried about where we are right now and we just need to focus on the next game, which is against St George’s at home.

“We have a lot to improve on, so we just need to continue to lay the foundation and we will be all right.”

X-Roads suffered a setback before the kick-off when Kahmori Brangman pulled a hamstring during the pregame warm-up and had to be replaced in the starting XI.

Despite being forced into a late switch, the home side started the game on a promising note with striker Danavon Thompson volleying Aaron Spencer’s brilliant diagonal pass inches wide of the far post.

After soaking up early pressure, Town gradually grew into the contest and began causing problems of their own with their counter-attacking brand of football.

Their strategy eventually paid off when Jones broke the deadlock during one such foray in the attacking third. Wing back Lejuan Simmons whipped over a dangerous cross which X-Roads goalkeeper Kamran Harvey spilt after colliding with a team-mate in the area and striker Jones slotted the loose ball home from an angle.

The goal did little to knock X-Roads off stride as they responded well with midfielder Krishun Douglas blasting over from inside the area after Town central defender Yeferson Ramirez was dispossessed.

Fellow central defender Danté Leverock then made a timely block to deny Douglas another good look at goal while Town goalkeeper Jahquil Hill rushed off his line to gather the ball off the head of X-Roads captain Paul Simons.

A X-Roads goal seemed imminent but they were rocked back on their heels for the second time in the match when Town capitalised on another brilliant counter attack to double their advantage in the 33rd minute.

Simmons sent over another delightful cross, which left an unmarked Robinson with the simple task of nodding home from point-blank range. Harvey managed to get a hand to the ball but was unable to keep it out of the goal.

Again X-Roads pressed on and should have at least pulled one back before half time. First, Thompson was gifted a glorious opportunity in the area after team-mate Samuel McKittrick’s shot took a deflection but he was unable to get his shot on target. Tymon Daniels also shot wide after being picked out by Simons’s precision pass in the box.

Town had a strong appeal for a penalty fall on deaf ears at the start of the second half when captain Tomiko Goater went down under a challenge in the area, while at the other end Town stopper Hill positioned himself well to save Daniels’s effort from the edge of the box as the game opened up.

Jones created space for himself with a brilliant piece of skill but was unfortunate not to grab a second as his ambitious left-foot volley from 25 yards flew just past the near post.

X-Roads enjoyed another good spell as the game drew to a close with McKittrick and Thompson failing to convert promising opportunities.

Excellent goalkeeping by Harvey prevented Town from pulling farther away as he initially rushed off his line to deny Jones in a one-on-one situation before making himself big to thwart Goater and Jones on the rebound.

X-Roads was forced to make another unscheduled substitution when Simons went off with a sore thigh. Still, the home side battled on but were unable to penetrate an experienced Town defence that stood firm to the end.

Farid El Karfa, the X-Roads coach, cited poor finishing for his team’s demise.

“I thought the score did not reflect our performance today,” he said. “We attacked very well against a team that was organised and physical but unfortunately we did not take our chances.

“I am proud of how my players showed character and mentality today and fought hard even after having a few forced substitutions due to injury.”

Scorers

Dandy Town: Jones, 16, Robinson, 33

Teams

X-Roads (4-2-3-1): K Harvey 7 — J Bean 7, A Cajee 7, C Smith 7, T Dill 7 — K Douglas 6 (sub: R Simmons, 71min 6), T Daniels 6 — A Spencer 7, S McKittrick 7, P Simons 6 (sub: K Richardson, 76) — D Thompson 6. Substitutes not used: S Somner, J Lottimore, A Darrell.

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): J Hill 7 — E Blankendal 7, Y Ramirez 6, D Leverock 7, L Simmons 8 — N Spence 7, E Moore 7 — T Goater 7, K Davis 7 (sub: E Swan, 70 6), R Robinson 7 (sub: Q Maynard, 70 6) — D Jones Jr 8. Substitutes not used: J Roser, T Smith, A Bailey, T Webb Jr, G Liburd. Booked: Moore, Blankendal

Referee: M Wyer.